For an Emerald
by Ashe Inuzuka
Summary: Knuckles didn't have a problem being the guardian of the Master Emerald, that is until it turned him into a girl. With all the females that had come close to the giant emerald not having a pure heart, it found someone who did. The problem? The pure hearted one is none other than Sonic the Hedgehog.
1. For a Pure Heart

A friend found my semi-similar story, Eclipse the Hedgehog, and asked me to make this for her. So, I decided to be nice and do so. Hope you like.

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"I understand that I need to make the next in line of guardians soon...BUT WAS THIS REALLY NECESSARY?!" It had been a quiet day on the floating Angel Island, until the almost shrill scream pierced through the forest. The well-known echidna guardian was glaring at their charge, the Master Emerald floating a bit above the floor of the broken down old shrine. The giant emerald did not respond to the angry question, not that the echidna had really expected it to. Knuckles sighed, attempting to calm down and looking over himself...or, what used to be himself. The once very MALE echidna was no longer male at all, but a female with similar looks. She looked exactly like a female version of her male self, no clothing beyond her gloves and shoes, except that she was missing her namesake entirely.

"Knuckles?" Called a female voice, Knuckles' head snapping towards the sound. She ran to hide behind the nearby trees, not wanting anyone to see her. She'd called Rouge earlier, the two had become somewhere between friends and rivals over the time they knew each other, and ask her to bring her some female clothes. Rouge landed a few feet from the tree the female echidna was hiding behind, a little confused as to why the proud echidna was hiding. Nonetheless, she couldn't help but pick on said echidna. "So why did you want me to bring you girl's clothes Knuckles? Have a sudden want to wear them or you got a female friend back there?" Rouge asked with a playful smirk.

"Sh-shut up Bat Girl!" Knuckles snapped after trying to make her voice as close to her old one as possible, blushing while Rouge laughed at the echidna's embarrassed reaction. "Now um...put the clothes down and turn around. And no looking." Knuckles ordered, Rouge's laughter stopping and now confused. After a moment of thought Rouge decided that the girl Knuckles must have hidden wanted to get the clothes on her own, and turned around. Knuckles ran out from behind the tree and grabbed the clothes, dashing as much as an echidna could dash back behind the tree. "You couldn't have gotten some OTHER colour?!" She demanded suddenly, seeing that everything Rouge had gotten was a sapphire blue and dark jean blue.

"Don't blame me, you said nothing pink or overly girly. The blue things were the only ones left on sale." Rouge responded with a huff. "Which reminds me, you owe me for those." The bat added as Knuckles began to try and put on the sapphire blue tank-top with the straps a dark jean blue along with a band at her waist. It was rather difficult with her boxing gloves on.

"I'll pay you back later." Knuckles sighed, pulling her dreadlocks from the shirt after putting it on. She then grabbed the dark blue jeans and tried to pull them up, having trouble with the zipper before finally taking off her gloves and throwing them to the ground in annoyance.

"You must have really roughed this girl up if she has no clothes left...have fun with her Knuckles?" Rouge began to tease again, Knuckles peach muzzle becoming nearly as red as her fur at what the bat was implying.

"Shut, up!" The echidna's voice cracked in her embarrassment, only making her all the more so. She growled and pulled on the simple white gloves before taking off her old shoes and replacing them with what looked like sapphire blue dress shoes with dark jean blue clips to keep them closed. She walked out from behind the tree to see Rouge still not looking at her, so she cleared her throat slightly. Rouge spun around with the hope of see who Knuckles has found to be his little girlfriend, only to see that her first tease of him wearing the clothing to be true. She almost immediately began a laughing fit.

"I-I didn't actually th-think you were g-going to wear th-them!" The bat exclaimed between laughing, falling over. Knuckles glared at the older girl in anger.

"Stop laughing, this isn't funny!" The echidna snapped, trembling with rage. After a few moments of attempting, Rouge stood again but was still laughing.

"That's what you think, Knucklehead!" She continued to laugh. Without thinking Knuckles dashed at Rouge, punching the bat with all her might. However the older girl only went about half as far as usual, causing Knuckle's eyes to widen in horror. The punch had caused Rouge to stop laughing, she wasn't very hurt despite it and looking up she saw Knuckles with 'his' head down with the dreadlocks covering 'his' face, the echidna's fists clenched. It was then that Rouge noticed the missing spikes, the echidna's name sake. "Knuckles?" She asked softly, realising that there was something very wrong and shouldn't be picking on the echidna.

"I don't ask for this...I can't even protect the Master Emerald anymore..." Knuckles' voice trembled as she tried to choke back her sobs, she was a proud echidna not some overly emotional girl.

"What...what happened Knuckles?" Rouge questioned, wanting to help the upset echidna. Knuckles looked up at her rival-friend, biting her lip to stop from crying.

"The Master Emerald...it decided that none of the girls that had been around it were 'worthy' of producing the next guardian...it decided on a guy with a pure heart...and turned me into a girl..." Knuckles choked back more sobs as she explained her situation, wanting to punch something but with only half her previous strength and no spikes punching a tree or something was more likely to hurt her than make her feel better like it did when she was a male.

"It can do that?!" Rouge exclaimed in shock, looking at the giant emerald. She'd known it had unimaginable power, but to think that it could change a male into a female entirely was...a little unnerving. Finally able to speak without crying Knuckles sat on the steps of the alter, Rouge sitting beside her.

"This has happened before...to a few guardians in the past. They were turned into girls; had coitus with the pure hearted male, had the new guardian about four months later and then returned to normal and never told the guardian about what happened until they became guardians themselves." Knuckles explained to the bat.

"So...why don't you do that?" Rouge asked, secretly wanting the echidna back to normal in the hopes of him returning her well-hidden feelings.

"Beyond me having more respect in myself and others to use someone simply to return to normal..." Knuckles huffed at the suggestion, but trailed off for a moment. She murmured something that even with Rouge's superior hearing couldn't pick up.

"What?" Rouge asked, her ears flicking. Knuckles repeated it a bit louder so that Rouge could hear, but this time Rouge asked the question because she was certain she'd heard the echidna wrong.

"It's Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!"

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If you like this story check out Eclipse the Hedgehog Revised. Read and Review, see ya around!


	2. For a Friend

"N...no way..." Rouge whispered, now understanding why Knuckles didn't want to just have some 'one night stand' with the one that her charge had chosen. Not only was Sonic the echidna's first and likely best friend, as well as still her friendly rival when he wasn't focused on Shadow, but Sonic just wasn't the type to go with Knuckles even if 'he' was a girl now...and with her current strength Amy was quite the threat if she did try to go after the blue hedgehog. "So...what do you do?" Rouge asked, knowing that despite how hard this would be for her Knuckles would never abandon the Master Emerald.

"I...I don't know..." Knuckles admitted sadly. She was sixteen years old, and if a new guardian was to take her place before she left her prime it had to be born within the next year or two...so she understood why the Master Emerald had changed her now. Nonetheless; Sonic was NOT a possibility, whether her charge thought so or not. "There has to be another way..." She insisted with little hope.

"But Knuckles...what if there ISN'T another way?" Rouge pointed out after several moments of silence, Knuckles would have to have a plan if the bat was right. Knuckles turned and stared at the all-powerful emerald.

"...I'll shatter it and hide every piece." Knuckles shrugged, clearly trying her very best to keep from listening to the Master Emerald's wish. Rouge's eyes narrowed at the echidna.

"Knuckles, you know you can't do that!" She scolded the guy-turned-girl. "There have been plenty of time that the Master Emerald has been needed to save people...are you really so selfish that you'd shatter it and possible destroy everyone?!" The bat demanded angrily. Knuckles looked down before sighing.

"No." She admitted with a sigh. "But I can't...its Sonic..." The echidna reminded her friend-rival softly, looking away from her.

"...If this is what you have to do as the guardian..." Rouge trailed off, knowing Knuckles would finish for her.

"...I don't have any choice but to listen..." Knuckles agreed with another sigh. She wouldn't use Sonic just to turn back to normal; he was her friend after all...but then, what was she supposed to do? There was no way that Sonic could gain feelings for her knowing that she'd change back to a guy after the new guardian was born, and she didn't have the heart not to tell him. The echidna gripped the sides of her head and screamed suddenly, startling the bat beside her greatly. Once Knuckles had run out of air she took a deep breath and breathed out again, feeling surprisingly better.

"What was that about?" Rouge asked, having backed away considerably when the echidna began to scream. Knuckles smirked a bit.

"It made me feel better." She admitted simply, shrugging a bit. Rouge blinked before smiling a bit, happy that the echidna felt better even if it did hurt the bat's ears. Knuckles stomach growled lightly, drawing the attention of the two girls.

"How about you go look for some food? You know better than me where food grows around here." Rouge suggested, Knuckles looking at her for several moments as if making sure this wasn't a trick. After that she smiled at the bat and nodded, going to find some fruit. Rouge looked at the Master Emerald, which soon turned into a glare. She had tried to get the emerald to spend more time around the echidna when Knuckles had begun to become secluded in his job again, she really just wanted to spend time with the echidna and perhaps start a relationship...apparently though, the Master Emerald had decided that the bat didn't have a 'pure enough heart' to be the mother of the next guardian. She sighed; though she wouldn't admit it she could understand why the emerald would think that...she wasn't very pure-hearted at all. She wondered if perhaps, after Knuckles had the new guardian, they could have a relationship.

"Rouge?" The sudden voice caused Rouge's head to snap to the side, seeing a slightly confused looking Sonic. The bat cursed her thoughts; she hadn't even heard the hedgehog's quick paced steps.

"What are you doing here Blue Boy?" Said bat asked. Sonic shrugged in a way that said he didn't care too much.

"Just felt like it." He stated simply. Though the hedgehog going wherever he felt like, with his mind changing about as fast as he ran, was completely normal Rouge had a feeling that the Master Emerald had something to do with the hedgehog's appearance. "What about you?" The blue male asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Knuckles called me to...hang out. He's getting us some fruit to eat." Rouge said after a moment, Sonic not looking convinced.

"Even the Knucklehead wouldn't leave his precious Master Emerald to be watched by YOU." He pointed out.

"Things have...changed. We're friends now Sonic, and I don't see any point in taking the huge thing anymore...I don't have anywhere to put it." Rouge tried to come up with a reason as to why Knuckles actually did leave her to watch the all-powerful emerald, even if it was for a short time. Sonic still didn't look too convinced, until the sound of a twig snapping drew the attention of both creatures to the nearby forest.

"I brought some grapes and peaches for..." Knuckles walked out of the forest with her eyes closed, as if seeing if she could still make it to the shrine without sight, but froze in her speech and step when she opened them and saw the blue hedgehog who was the cause for all her problems.

"What's up Knuckles?" Sonic asked with a large smirk, suddenly looking confused. "Any reason for the uh...change of attire, Knux?" He questioned the echidna, who blushed before huffing and turning her head away from him.

"Got off my island Sonic." She ordered in irritation, she didn't want to deal with the hedgehog at the moment. Whatever she was going to do about all this, she knew she had to get used to her new body first. Sonic smirked in a way that was very familiar to Rouge, he was about to pick on the echidna.

"Sonic, it's not-" Rouge attempted to explain to the hedgehog before he made Knuckles upset, but the runner cut her off.

"You're a little odd Knux but I never thought you'd wanna wear girl's clothes!" Sonic exclaimed, laughing in a similar way as Rouge earlier. Like with Rouge the echidna became momentarily enraged, dropping her scavenged food and throwing a punch at the hedgehog. Despite knowing it was coming Sonic was laughing too hard to dodge, the punch connecting with Sonic's face. The hedgehog expected to go flying and start a playful fight with the echidna, but despite his friendly rival punching with all his strength the runner didn't move an inch. Just like Rouge he became concerned for the guardian at the enraged yet weak punch. "Knuckles, are you al-"

"Get off..." Knuckles was in the same position as when Rouge had begun to worry after being punched, her voice trembling slightly.

"Listen Knuckles, I didn't mean to-" Again Sonic was cut off, Knuckles' head snapping up and glaring at the hedgehog with tear-filled eyes.

"Get off. Get off! Get OFF! GET OFF!" Each time the two words were said they were louder and more desperate, just wanting the hedgehog gone. Despite being concerned with his friend the speedster decided it was probably best to just do as the echidna wanted, spinning on his heel and dashing off.

"Knuckles..." Rouge murmured, knowing how much strength meant to the guardian considering her job. The echidna's entire body was trembling as she tried to keep herself from sobbing, Rouge walking over to her and hugging her in comfort. "Just let it all out...it'll make you feel better..." She assured the other girl. After a moment Knuckles' arms wrapped around Rouge's waist and she sobbed loudly; for everything that had happened, all that she lost, and her entire way of life suddenly crashing around her.

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Sonic likes to pick on Knuckles, he never thought he'd made the echidna actually upset. Hope you like it, read and review too!


	3. For a Girl

Since Eclipse the Hedgehog Revised is rather far ahead of this story I'll be writing this one for without adding to that one for the next few chapters. Hope you like, read and review! **I made a modivational of one of Rouge's lines in this, there's a link on my profile for it.**

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"...Feeling any better?" Rouge asked once Knuckles' sobs had reduced to soft sniffles. The echidna nodded after several silent moments, the bat pulling away. She couldn't help but think about how...odd Knuckles looked with red rimmed eyes from her crying, weak and almost pathetic in a very sad way.

"You...you should go home Rouge." Knuckles said hesitantly after another awkward pause. Rouge's eyes narrowed again.

"Knuckles, I'm not going to..." Rouge trailed off as she realised that the guardian wanted to be alone, and was trying to nicely get her to leave.

"You really should leave..." The echidna insisted softly. The bat sighed and nodded, understanding now.

"I'll be back tomorrow, alright? I'm sure you'll want some help." The thief insisted, Knuckles nodding before Rouge flew off. With a heavy heart the guardian walked up the steps of the shrine, sitting against one of the pillars. She'd woken up this morning as a girl, had thrown a fit until early afternoon before calling Rouge and yelling at the Master Emerald. She wasn't sure how long her talk with Rouge had lasted, nor her sobbing, but it was late afternoon now. The echidna was exhausted, and decided to go to bed early. She leaned a little more into the pillar and crossed her arms in front of her as a comfort thing, before falling asleep in that position.

The morning was far too bright and cheerful for the guy-turned-girl, not wishing to awaken and face reality. A poke on her forehead had Knuckles snapping awake and jumping up, ready to fight despite her current condition. Rouge was smiling widely at the echidna, swinging something leather with metal on her index finger.

"What's that?" Despite herself the echidna was curious. Rouge indicated for Knuckles to hold out one of her hands, which she did.

"Close your eyes." The bat ordered, Knuckles huffing at the tone but doing as told nonetheless. She could feel Rouge slip what appeared to be a leather strap over her glove, covering her bare knuckles. "You can open them now." The thief said, sounding rather pleased. The guardian opened her eyes and looked at her gloved hand, her eyes widening. The leather strap was over her hands, and two metal spikes came from the leather at the exact place her own spikes had once been. The spikes were a bit smaller, seeming more feminine in a way...but they were a welcome sight and a surprising comfort anyway.

"You got me...spikes?" The younger girl asked softly, seeing an identical leather strap in Rouge's other hand. The bat smiled back and took Knuckles hand, putting the strap on and adjusting it slightly so that the spikes were in their proper place.

"I thought this might help...you lost a lot of your strength when you became a girl, right? So I figured if you had your spikes back you'd still be able to be pretty dangerous again." The older girl explained with that smile, to which Knuckles gave her slight smile and casually narrowed eyes.

"...Thanks Rouge." The guardian said after a moment, Rouge laughing a bit.

"No need to thank me." She assured the other girl, waving her hand slightly in a show that it didn't matter. "However...if you've been wearing those all night than we'd better clean them, you too for that matter." The bat pointed out, Knuckles blushing a bit.

"I...I don't know how to..." The red puncher looked away from the white spy, not sure exactly how to say what she wanted. Rouge laughed again.

"No worries, I'll help you out until you get comfortable." The white one assured the red.

"What are you doing to my eyes?" Knuckles growled half-heartedly, her eyes closed. She'd finished her rather awkward bath and put back on her then dry clothing, but Rouge had insisted on getting her to sit with her eyes closed and do something to them. The light pressure on her eyelids was rather odd.

"You'll see...just a moment longer." The bat said simply, working for a minute or so more before pulling back. The bat picked up the straps she had gotten her younger friend and put them on over the girl's gloves like before, adjusting them again until they were in their proper place. "Alright, look in the river."

"Finally." Knuckles responded, opening her eyes and turning to look at herself in the reflecting of the river. She gasped at what she saw. Rouge had put sapphire coloured eye shadow on the echidna's eyelids, matching her clothing...though a part of her hated to say it, the guardian had to admit that Rouge had made her look like a rather attractive girl. She was glad she wasn't some other animal, or her tail may have started waging. "I look like a...girl..." Knuckles said after several moments, trying to figure out exactly what to say. Rouge laughed again.

"That's the POINT Knuckles." She laughed softly. "If you plan to try and go after Sonic or not, if you're stuck as a girl you might as well look your best." The bat added, Knuckles blinking because she was surprised that the bat's logic made sense.

"Yeah...I suppose so." The guardian agreed after a moment, smiling at Rouge again. "I left the fruit out last night...so I'll go get us some more. Go make sure nothing happens to the Master Emerald." Without an agreement to her order Knuckles left to get food for the two, rather hungry since she hadn't eaten last night. Rouge smiled at the echidna's sudden unquestioning trust in her and went to do as she was told, to make the younger girl feel better if nothing else.

"So...what kind of bat are you anyway?" Knuckles asked the older girl, biting into a peach. The two were eating breakfast of fruit on the shrine, so Knuckles was close to the giant floating emerald. Rouge looked at the guardian, having never thought that the younger girl wondered such a question.

"I'm a fruit bat." The thief stated, popping a grape in her mouth. She didn't dare to eat too many, knowing that they were the red puncher's favourite.

"Hm..." Knuckles made a content sound from the answer, finishing her peach and moving on to some grapes. The two were eating in peace for a while before Rouge's ears perked, turning to the forest. "Something up?" The echidna questioned, having a rather sudden unnerving feeling.

"Yo Knuckles!" Came the voice of a familiar blue hedgehog from below, Knuckles freezing.

"...Damn it..."

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Knuckles actually feels a lot better now that she has a set of spikes again. **BTW, she was practicing with using the spikes in the forest while scavanging for food so she's used to used to them already.**


	4. For an Ancestor

For those who may be wondering, Knuckles always seemed the type to swear if it wasn't kids based with his temper. Just saying.

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"...Damn it..." Knuckles hissed under her breath, wondering why the blue hedgehog couldn't just STAY gone. In a way she was lucky that she wasn't facing the runner, he didn't see the eye shadow. After a moment she remembered that Sonic had already seen her in girl's clothes, so there was no point in trying to hide what she'd become; especially if she wanted to save her dignity. "I thought I told you to get off my island Sonic." The guardian pointed out in a forced calm.

"I did. Now I'm back." The echidna didn't need to turn to see that the cocky hedgehog was smirking.

_How is he the pure-hearted one again?!_ She demanded angrily, frowning in thought. _Right...Tails, Cream and Amy are too young to produce a new guardian...Rouge isn't pure-hearted at all, and I'm not even sure if Shadow HAS a heart. _The guardian reminded herself with a sigh. It was true; the 'Ultimate Life Form' had come to the island a few times in the past several months. Sometimes he came to protect Rouge when Knuckles was being too hard on her and sometimes he just came during his travels with no real reason; the black and red hedgehog seemed to be intrigued with the Master Emerald, but since he hadn't tried to steal it Knuckles had never had too much of a problem with him appearing.

"You ignoring me Knucklehead?" The voice of Sonic brought the echidna back to the present, causing 'him' to stand up slowly and turn around to face the hedgehog climbing the alter stairs at a surprisingly slow pace. The guardian looked enraged at the runner, which seemed to remind him of upsetting the red puncher the day before and stopping to look up at 'him'. The runner decided not to mention the eye shadow, not noticing the leather straps and metal spikes over the echidna's gloves. "Listen Knuckles, whatever I said I didn't mean to upset ya." Sonic tried to apologise, but it only seemed to make the echidna even angrier...for a moment the hedgehog swore that a purple aura surrounded the guardian.

"If you don't want to upset me...then get the hell off my island!" Knuckles yelled at the blue hero, slashing her arm sideways as if hoping it would make a burst of Chaos Energy blast said hedgehog off the island like she wanted. Sonic's eyes narrowed slightly at the angry echidna.

"I understand you're upset, but that's no need to be so angry with me. I haven't done nothing wrong Knuckles." Sonic huffed, annoyed that Knuckles clearly hadn't accepted his apology. He barely managed to dodge a fist to the head with a quick-reaction jump when the red puncher suddenly jumped off the alter at him, cracking the stairs some with 'his' force. 'He' didn't seem to care though as the echidna stood back up, looking the hedgehog dead in the eye. The hero took a step back as he looked into the guardian's eyes; 'he' reminded the hedgehog eerily of a very enraged Shadow and it was highly unsettling.

"Nothing wrong? Nothing wrong?!" The guy-turned-girl demanded with dangerous eyes. "It's because of you that I'm stuck like this!" She snarled, readying to jump at her red rival again.

"Knuckles! Stop it!" The echidna froze in her squat, having forgotten entirely about the bat she'd been eating with. "None of this is Sonic's fault Knuckles, you know that. Hurting him now isn't going to make you feel any better later, you're just upset." Rouge pointed out, her voice a little desperate to get through to the echidna. Slowly the red puncher returned to her full height, walking down the steps in an unnervingly calm way with her dreadlocks bouncing slightly with each step down and her eyes closed. She walked straight past the hero she'd been trying to fatally wound not a minute ago, not sparing him a glance and only stopping when she reached the canopy of trees that surrounded the shrine.

"I'm going for a walk to cool down, make sure the Master Emerald isn't stolen." Knuckles called back to Rouge, not needing to turn to know that the bat agreed to do as she wanted. "And you'd better be off my island by the time I get back Sonic." She added before entering the trees and disappearing into it soundlessly.

"...Why did you stop him? And what's up with the Knucklehead anyway, he's angrier than usual." Sonic questioned Rouge, who flinched slightly at the male pronouns used to describe the echidna.

_Has she...has she really only been a girl for two days? _The bat wondered, looking after the echidna. Perhaps it was because she had seen Knuckles cry, something she was certain no one else perhaps her dead family had seen, that make it seem like forever since the thief had last saw Knuckles as a guy...she'd been here 'for the Master Emerald' two days before the guardian became a girl. "It's very complicated Sonic." Rouge finally responded to the second question. "As for why I stopped Knuckles...I don't want anything regrettable to happen." She added, caring for the echidna too much to want to see her cry again which she was certain with being bombarded by the more potent emotions of a girl the red puncher was likely to do if she hurt her first friend.

"That's not too much of an answer." Sonic pointed out, tapping his foot in annoyance rather than impatience.

"I don't really have the right to tell you anything." Rouge admitted, sighing before biting into one of the remaining peaches. She figured since the fruit from last night had gone bad thanks to the hedgehog she shouldn't let this go bad too, with how hard Knuckles must have worked to find it all.

"Then I'll just wait here and ask him myself." Sonic smirked at Rouge and gave her a thumbs up to show he wasn't changing his mind, despite how dangerous waiting for the echidna could be after 'he' had attacked the hero like that and warned said hero to be gone when 'he' returned. Rouge sighed, being around Shadow frequently meant she understood just how stubborn hedgehogs could be, and decided against trying to convince the runner against doing as he wished.

Knuckles felt against the wall of the cave she was walking through near the lake, it was pitch black and she didn't want to lose her way. This cave led to under the shrine, where her ancestors' caskets were...whenever the guardian was truly upset said guardian had come to the room of caskets and just sat there for a while, talking to them. She walked for another minute or so before seeing light at the end of the tunnel, walking towards it. The rock of the cave soon became surprisingly smooth brick; the same colour and texture as the shrine several feel above it.

"I'm back...I'm sorry that I haven't come to see you lately..." Knuckles said once she entered the room, torches that never seemed to die out hanging from the walls. Almost all of the caskets were the same stone as the room they were in...only the two farthest back were different, made of the wood of the trees surrounding the shrine. "...Sorry I couldn't make them any better..." The red puncher murmured once she reached the two wooden caskets, placing her gloved hands of the surprisingly non-rotten things. The guardian apologised for the caskets each time said guardian came here, though considering that the echidna had only been four years old when they'd made the caskets they were fairly well built.

"...What ails you young guardian?" Asked a deep voice as Knuckles sat between the two wooden coffins, looking up to see the echidna she had learned a while back was Tikal's father; Pachacamac. Said echidna certainly looked like the war chief he'd been, even as a floating spirit before the young guardian. She wasn't entirely sure why, but in this room the souls of the dead were projected from the afterlife and she was able to talk to them...it often made Knuckles feel better to come here and rant about all the problems the red puncher had. Pachacamac was the one who came out the most though...she'd never seen her parents.

"The Master Emerald turned me into a girl Chief Pachacamac." Knuckles stated, the old echidna nodding and waiting for the young guardian to continue as he knew that could not be all that troubled the girl. "It has chosen the one with the purest heart available, but...it has chosen Sonic the Hedgehog." She added, quieter than before. Pachacamac blinked and said what he thought.

"That is the blue hero, correct?" He asked first, the young guardian nodding. "Then I see no problem with the Master Emerald's choice." He acknowledged, knowing full well it wouldn't help the echidna to hear as far as comfort went...but Knuckles had come here for the truth, not comfort. Knuckles looked away from the old echidna with a slight blush.

"Girl or not, Sonic would never develop feelings for me...I would tell him right away that I'll change back into a guy once the new guardian is born..." Knuckles admitted to the ex-chief. "Besides, Sonic already...has a love interest." She added in a much quieter voice. The old echidna almost wanted to make a sound of understanding, now he knew what the problem was. Nonetheless, he found himself having to ask the young guardian a question.

"Does that upset you young guardian?" The spirit asked, causing Knuckles' eyes to widen at the seemingly sudden question.

"I don't...I don't know..." She said after a few moments of thought, leaning against her mother's casket. She wished she could speak with the woman...from what she remembered; her mother had always known what to do.

"Perhaps you should realise you own feelings on the matter before becoming angry with the Master Emerald." Pachacamac suggested, slowly disappearing to let the red puncher think things through on her own. Knuckles sighed, closing her eyes. She would do as the old echidna had recommended, knowing that he was right.

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Rouge may have her hands filled with Sonic around, and Knuckles has a lot to think about thanks to Pachacamac. Let's hope our fav guardian feels better soon.


	5. For a Truth

For anyone who is wondering, I'm usually busy all day and only get to be alone after midnight, hence why this are usually posted around 5am my time.

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"I'm back." Knuckles said as she walked into the clearing with the shrine and Master Emerald, running her hand through her dreadlocks with a sigh. She'd been under the shrine for over a half hour, and was no closer to figuring out her own feelings that before. It took the somewhat distracted echidna a moment to notice Sonic was sitting beside Rouge blinking at the guardian with a grape about to be popped into his mouth.

"Welcome back Knux." Sonic smirked at the girl before eating the grape. Knuckles placed her fingers against her temples, not wanting to yell at the hedgehog again.

"Sonic...I thought I told you to leave." The echidna groaned in annoyance.

"Something's up, I want to know what." Sonic explained simply, shrugging to show he really didn't have much better to do than pester the guardian about her current situation. Knuckles looked at Rouge, who shook her head...the bat hadn't told him a thing.

"If you really must know Sonic, the Master Emerald has changed my sex." The red puncher stated as she began to walk up the steps of the shrine. Sonic stared at her, clearly thinking she was lying to him. The echidna sighed. "I WISH I was lying to you." She sighed, sitting against the pillar she'd been sleeping against the previous night. Sonic looked over Knuckles was a curious eye, often glancing at Rouge for a moment before eyes going back to the guardian. Knuckles didn't have to look at the hedgehog to know this, slowly beginning to tremble in annoyance as it continued. "...Will you stop comparing us!" She snapped after several minutes, blushing slightly with her fist clenched in warning. The red puncher knew full well that she was almost still a male compared to the overly developed thief, and since she still wasn't used to the body the guardian was annoyed with being compared to someone who was better looking without question.

"Don't worry Knuckles, you look pretty cute in your own right." Rouge smiled at the echidna, who immediately blushed more. If the younger girl didn't know better she'd think that the bat was flirting with her.

"I'm sorry...if this makes you uncomfortable..." The red puncher murmured towards her male company, looking away from him in embarrassment. She certainly knew that being around ANYONE really made her feel rather uncomfortable, especially the runner.

"So uh...why'd you get turned into a girl Knuckles?" Sonic asked after what felt like an eternity. Knuckles bit her lip slightly, absently noticing that her 'canine' teeth didn't seem quite as sharp as they had been before. She didn't want to tell the blue hero everything yet...she wasn't sure when she would tell him everything but certainly not at that moment.

"It has to do with a new guardian and a pure heart...that's all I'm saying right now." The guardian finally decided to say, giving the just but not any specifics. Sonic looked no less confused than before, but it seemed that he decided not to push the red puncher. "I need to figure some things out before I say anything else." Knuckles finally admitted, Sonic nodding as though he understood despite the echidna and her friend-rival both knowing he didn't.

"Rouge." The deep voice brought everyone's attention to the bottom of the shrine, where Shadow the Hedgehog now stood with his arms crossed. He didn't look too happy...though, Knuckles admitted to herself that the dark hedgehog never looked very happy.

"What is it?" Rouge asked her GUN partner, wondering why he had come to the island for her.

"You're late." Shadow pointed out in annoyance, Rouge looking confused for a moment before realising what the dark hedgehog was trying to tell her. She had work today, but she'd come to the island early to help Knuckles out...she'd meant to leave after breakfast, but with the 'fight' between the echidna and Sonic and watching the Master Emerald while Knuckles was calming down she'd gotten sidetracked and forgotten all about it.

"Sorry, I have to get going. If you need me just call." The thief assured the younger girl, who simply nodded. She and Shadow were staring at one another intently, one of Shadow's eyebrows rose.

"You are a female." The oldest male said suddenly, Knuckles looking a little taken aback.

"...You're the first one to notice before trying to pick on me." She explained after a moment. Shadow huffed.

"I had no intention of 'picking on you' echidna." He stated, though it sounded slightly off...like there was some emotion under the usual deep and blunt statement.

"Thank you, I suppose." The guardian said, Shadow turning away from her. He grabbed Rouge's wrist, Knuckles vaguely wondered how she'd gotten beside him without the echidna noticing, and disappeared in the customary flash of Chaos Control. It took a few moments for the red puncher to realise that she and Sonic were now alone on the island, beyond the odd forest creature. A blush quickly worked its way across her muzzle and she felt incredibly uncomfortable. "Um...I'd prefer to be left alone to think for a while Sonic." She said after several moments of trying to figure out what to say that wouldn't make it seem like she was mad at him again. Sonic stood in a flash, smirking down at her.

"Sure, no prob. I'll come over sometime tomorrow, we'll have a spar. No worries, I'll take it easy on you." The hedgehog gave her a thumbs up with his playful smirk. Knuckles wasn't sure if she should be angry with Sonic for saying he'd take it easy on her, or thankful that he was offering to help her get a handle on her fighting again. It wasn't like the echidna thought the blue hero couldn't put up with whatever 'thrashing' she managed to dish out, she'd fought him to a standstill on several occasions while she was male and she was a lot weaker now.

"...Thank you Sonic." The red puncher decided to say, smiling ever so slightly at him with casually narrowed eyes; her usual look when she wanted to thank him if she said the words or not.

"No prob." Sonic repeated, stretching for a moment. "See ya." With that the hedgehog was off, a blue blur all that remained. With a sigh of relief at the familiar silence the echidna closed her eyes and thought about what Pachacamac had said, relaxing and thinking without worry with the soft and comfortable glow of the Master Emerald at her side.

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Shadow the Hedgehog: The only who who realised Knuckles was a girl BEFORE saying anything. Hope you all enjoyed, read and review!


	6. For a Fight

Time for what everyone I'm sure has been waiting for, the fight between Sonic and Knuckles! I apologise if it's not the best, I'm really not that good a fight scenes. Enjoy.

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"Ready Knux?" Sonic asked, stretching to prepare for the spar between himself and the echidna. Knuckles punched forward quickly, smirking.

"Of course." She responded simply. To be honest she was worried, not of hurting the hero but of being unable to do any real damage to him. _If that happened, I'd be... _Knuckles shook her head, not wanting to think about that possibility and psych herself out. Sonic nodded and dashed at the guardian, running around her. He was going just slow enough to keep from a whirlwind from forming; they were practicing the speed of her punches first so she wasn't wearing the straps.

"Give it your best Knuckles." Rouge said from the shrine, watching the two. She insisted to be around the red puncher until she was no longer awkward with her new body, which both knew could take a while. To find Sonic's location around Knuckles by hearing was near impossible, he ran so fast that he'd be around her three more times before you figured out where he was before. Instead the girl closed her eyes and tried to SENSE the hedgehog, like Shadow and the guardian herself he had a Chaos signature that could be tracked far faster than hearing or sight if she concentrated enough.

_Focus._ Knuckles ordered herself. To her slight surprise she sensed him almost immediately, she normally only had that happen if they were using a Chaos ability. She decided not to question it though and punched where the hedgehog would be, feeling her fist connect with something. She opened her eyes and saw Sonic smirking at her, not at all fazed by the fast punch as she hadn't put much power behind it. The runner gave her a thumbs up before dashing around her again. The cycle continued into early afternoon to which the hedgehog's cheek had a bruise simply from how many times the echidna had punched it.

"Time for power?" Sonic asked once Knuckles sighed, able to tell she wanted to hit something with all her might instead of this holding back stuff. The red puncher nodded and readied herself, the runner stopping and simply standing there. The earlier had been surprised when the hero said he'd simply stand there and let her beat on him, but she assumed that he didn't think her punches were enough to worry about anymore. Knuckles punched one of her fists into her palm, then the other, to calm her swelling nerves.

"Take this!" Putting her full power behind the punch, the guardian's clenched fist flew at the hedgehog. It connected with his chest and, to her happiness, he skid back a few feet. "Maybe I was just weaker because I had just been changed..." Knuckles thought aloud. Sonic rubbed her chest a bit and smiled at her.

"Again." He said simply, clearly wanting to see if she was right. Punch after punch and bruise after bruise the echidna punched, several bruises forming over the hedgehog's body and each punch stronger than the last. Nonetheless she was still weaker than Sonic after a good couple hours of punching him.

"Let's get you healed." Knuckles said, helping the rather bruised Sonic up the steps of the shrine. She was a little nervous, she hadn't tried to connect or use the power of the Master Emerald since she had been changed. "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos. Please Master Emerald...heal Sonic." The guardian requested, her voice much more confident than she felt. For a horrifying moment nothing happened, all three of the occupants on the floating island at the time fearing that the echidna could no longer connect to the giant emerald because of her new form...then the glow of it was almost blinding, causing everyone to cover their eyes. Once the light died down they all opened their eyes and looked at Sonic, the hedgehog completely healed as the group had hoped.

"Let's fight for real." Sonic suggested suddenly, the two girls looking at him. They looked at one another, contemplating the idea, before Knuckles smiled and nodded. She glided to the ground, below the shrine where they had trained just minutes ago and took a deep breath to calm herself.

"Here!" Rouge called as Sonic dashed to the bottom of the shrine, the bat throwing the spiked straps at the echidna. She spun and caught them, pulling them on and adjusting them before she'd even stopped spinning to face her opponent.

"Come on." Sonic encouraged the red puncher. The girl dashed forward for the first strike, as she always did with her blue rival. The boy easily dodged and began to run circles around her in hopes of making his whirlwind. Knuckles reacted immediately, sensing him without focus and punching him before he could get the wind up to that point. Sonic skid back quite a ways compared to earlier, he was pretty sure the guardian had dislocated his jaw with that punch. They fought like they always had, Sonic not really attacking Knuckles as much as playing with her as she tried to near ruthlessly fight him. However it was the runner who noticed when the red puncher began to slowly become faster and stronger, but not the same as before. He looked up at the all-mighty emerald to see it glowing faintly...Knuckles was, obviously subconsciously, using the power of her charge.

"Sonic!" Knuckles' female voice suddenly returned Sonic to reality, to find himself flying through the air towards the forest. He flipped so that his feet landed first and the hedgehog pushed off, flying right back to where he'd been. The hero had been so focused on his opponent's charge that he hadn't even realised he'd been punched, but the runner could certainly feel the pain now; the spikes had dug into his flesh and it actually quite hurt. "Are you ok?!" The guardian asked in worry, afraid she'd somehow truly hurt him. She didn't want that, he'd offered to help her get back into true fighting condition and actually hurting him would make him take back his word...she didn't want him to be angry and not come back.

"That was quite a punch Knux." Sonic smirked at the echidna to calm her, giving the girl his customary thumbs up.

"You're bleeding!" The guardian exclaimed suddenly, not having noticed before. She walked up to him and moved his slightly blood-matter fur so she could see the wound in the hero's shoulder. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to really hurt you..." She apologised, feeling extremely upset.

"I'll be fine, just a little blood." Her blue rival assured her with a smile. "Those spikes are sure dangerous though!" He added truthfully, the metal was much more dangerous than the echidna's old bone ones. Knuckles, however, didn't appear to be listening to Sonic anymore and was instead staring at his shoulder with an odd look on her face. She slowly took off one of her gloves, as if in a trance, and placed the bare hand on said shoulder. To the hero's amazement his wound began to glow the same soft green as the Master Emerald before and the skin began to grow back, stopping only when the wound was fully healed. As soon as the runner was healed the red puncher pulled away almost violently, looking confused.

"That's um...enough for today, Sonic." She said after several moments, putting her glove and strap back on.

"Alright." Sonic shrugged, it was only late afternoon so he wasn't sure why Knuckles wanted to stop but decided not to question her...his questions seemed to make her rather upset lately. "I'll be back tomorrow, same time." Without an agreement the hedgehog dashed off, gone in a moment.

"...Knuckles?" The thief asked her friend, who was staring at their hand.

"I didn't...I didn't say the chant...yet I healed him..." The guardian whispered, the older girl just able to hear her.

"...Maybe because he's supposed to be the father of the next guardian?" The bat suggested, as it was the only thing she could really think of.

"Maybe..." Knuckles agreed after a moment, sighing and walking back up to her charge and friend. "You should-"

"Go home, right?" Rouge asked, the red puncher nodding. "Sure." The white flier said simply, smiling at the echidna since she knew that the girl wished to be alone. Rouge left without having to say she'd return before Sonic the next day, Knuckles already knew it full well.

"Is it possible that I'm...more connected with the Master Emerald now...?" The guardian questioned softly, deciding to go talk to her ancestors.

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I wonder what's going on...perhaps something has been kept from our favourite guardian? Read and review!


	7. For a Lie

School will be starting up again soon, so I'll be updating a less often. But I'll try to update everyday until then. For those who care, I should be updating Eclipse the Hedgehog Revised tomorrow. Anyway, here is the chapter so read and review!

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"Chief Pachacamac!" Knuckles exclaimed the moment she entered the room of caskets. The old ex-chief appeared to the girl, looking at her with mild concern. She hadn't sounded so demanding and confused before.

"What ails you young guardian?" Pachacamac asked, as he always did.

"I need to speak to someone like me...a guardian who was turned into a girl." The young guardian stated, looking the old echidna in the eyes. The spirit looked at her before nodding, disappearing to find her what she wished. The red puncher moved to her usual spot while waiting for the one she wanted to speak to. Pachacamac appeared a short while later with a pale brown echidna at his side around 20 or so, however...the echidna was a girl with the purple eyes and crescent mark of a guardian.

"Hello...you must be Knuckles." The brown echidna said, smiling at the girl slightly.

"...Yes, that's right. I asked to speak to a-"

"A male guardian turned into a female, right? That's me." The woman summarized, her smile now sad. "My name is Tooth...I was the fifth guardian before your father. I...I died while still in this form, so in this form I stayed as a spirit. Chief Pachacamac here took care of my son and taught him everything he needed to know, so I am not terribly upset." She explained to Knuckles, who looked down sadly.

"I am...I'm sorry..." The young echidna apologised. Tooth smiled again.

"There is no need to apologise Knuckles. Now tell me, why did you want to talk to me?" The woman asked.

"Oh, right. When you were a girl...were you more connected to the Master Emerald than as a boy?" Knuckles asked the ex-guardian. Tooth looked thoughtful, than apologetic.

"I'm afraid I never tried to connect to the Master Emerald as a girl Knuckles...I was rather upset with it." The female spirit explained. "I don't think any of the others did either." She added before Knuckles got her hopes up.

"Oh...alright, thank you anyway..." Knuckles thanked dejectedly before leaving.

"...Why did I have to lie to her again?" Tooth asked Pachacamac in annoyance once Knuckles could no longer hear them.

"You did not lie to her. You simply did not tell her the reason she is more connected to the Master Emerald now." The old spirit reminded the younger.

"Why?" The ex-guardian repeated with a glare.

"Her parents did not wish for her to know." The ex-chief sighed.

"...It's not right, for Ankle and Waist to keep something so important from their child." Grumbled the brown echidna.

"It is for her safety, old guardian. I am certain they will tell the blue hero the truth when the time comes." The dark red echidna stated.

"Right...because even if they wanted to tell her themselves, a guardian cannot talk to their parents..." Tooth remembered, sighing sadly for the young guardian before she and Pachacamac disappeared back to the afterlife.

"Sonic doesn't seem too uncomfortable around me despite my new gender. He even helped me with fighting again and will be coming back tomorrow to help some more...but is that because he's my friend or...something more?" Knuckles wondered aloud as she scavenged for some fruit to eat for dinner. "Well...which one do you want it to be?" She asked herself. The echidna was still desperately trying to figure out her feelings for the blue hedgehog, which actually wasn't as easy as one would expect. With her parents dead when she was very young, trying to differentiate friendship and something more was rather difficult, no one had taught her how.

"_Perhaps you should realise you own feelings on the matter before becoming angry with the Master Emerald." _The words of Pachacamac echoed in the ears of you guardian.

"I've always liked being around Sonic, even if he annoyed me at times...and I was worried when he got hurt, even if I was the one who caused it..." Knuckles continued to talk to herself to sort out her thoughts as she absently looked for dinner. "I get irritated when Amy is being clingy with him...and I'm willing to help him even if it means leaving the Master Emerald unattended for a while, though I know he'd help me get it back if it was taken because I was off helping him...even when he took the emerald I was more angry that he didn't tell me than I was that he took it to begin with, since I knew he wouldn't take it without a good reason..." The guardian finally sighed. "I'll explain it all to Rouge tomorrow, she'll help me figure it out." She decided simply.

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Well, it looks like something important is being kept from our favourite little guardian. And what about Knuckles' feelings, does she love Sonic or only see him as a friend? It seems a certain theif is needed for our echidna to figure it out. Sorry this one is so short. Hope you like anyway, see ya later!


	8. For a Life

Here's the next chapter of For an Emerald for everyone to read! Hope you like, read and review!

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"I see, I see." Rouge said as she brushed Knuckles dreadlocks, having listened to the guy-turn-girl as she explained her feelings. Hearing them the bat was a little conflicted herself, on if she should be truthful with the echidna or lie...however the guardian had only really just begun to trust the thief and if she found out that the older girl was lying than Rouge would really get it. "...It seems to me like you have a bit of both Knuckles, so you're probably just beginning to get feelings." The white flier finally admitted.

"Feeling for...Sonic?" The red puncher murmured softly, looking at her hands and the missing spikes. "...In the end it doesn't matter though, does it? I'm not going to be a girl forever." Knuckles pointed out sadly, sighing.

"I'm um...I'm sorry for you Knuckles." Rouge tried to sound as sincere as possible, but it was hard when she was glad that Knuckles had no intention of starting an actual relationship with Sonic even if she was beginning to get feelings for her blue rival. Turning the echidna to face her, the bat began to apply the sapphire eye shadow that completed her look. She had just finished when the guardian shot up suddenly, her eyes wide. "Knuckles?" The thief asked.

"The Master Emerald!" With that apparent explanation the younger girl began to run back towards the shrine. When Rouge realised what was going on she took to the sky, flying to Knuckles and held her arms out for the guardian to grab. The red puncher nodded, jumping up and grabbed the white flier's outstretched arms. Rouge flew at high speed towards the shrine.

"Get away from the Master Emerald!" Knuckles yelled as she saw Eggman about to pick up the emerald with the claw from his Egg Carrier like when the guardian had first met the thief currently carrying her. Rouge knew what Knuckles wanted and threw her towards the mechanical claw, Knuckles slipping her straps into place as she flew towards her target, the metal spikes cutting through the metal claw. Almost the moment she did she sensed an incoming Chaos signature, a blue blur striking at the Egg Carrier.

"Need a hand?" The cocky blue hedgehog asked his red rival as he landed beside her from his Homing Attack.

"Thanks." The echidna said simply, readying herself.

"I'll be taking that emerald Knucklehead." Eggman said, a shadow blocking off the sun. A sinister feeling filled Knuckles, but it was clouded by her rage.

"I am not a knucklehead!" She snapped, baring her canines angrily. However the villain simply pointed up, the echidna looking despite herself and seeing something falling from the Egg Fleet above them. Shadow landed from the ship, looking at the guardian and hero with dead-looking eyes. "...Shadow?" Knuckles asked, confused as to why he was working with Eggman.

"It's an android, it's not really Shadow!" Rouge called to the two. Both red and blue smirked at this as two more androids landed beside the other. Sonic dashed at them and created a whirlwind around them before kicking them towards Knuckles, who punched through them without problem. No matter how many groups of Shadow Androids the two rivals destroyed more kept falling from the Egg Fleet, Rouge protecting the Master Emerald itself from more of the androids. It happened too suddenly from anyone to see, Sonic was fighting fine one moment then on the ground and not moving the next with a Shadow Android with a gun standing where he had been.

"Sonic!" Knuckles cried, her eyes widening in horror before suddenly feeling boiling rage. She knew this destructive rage as well as Shadow, they both had a deep connection to Chaos energy and had to keep their true tempers in check because of it. Purple Chaos energy began to glow around the guardian at the girl clenched her teeth. Without thought the red puncher jumped up towards Eggman, hopping from broken pillar to broken pillar without hesitation. "Get off my island!" She snarled, punching the Egg Carrier. Almost immediately a pulse of purple Chaos Energy from the girl's fist sent the Shadow Androids crashing into the forest and Eggman into his fleet, a much more powerful green pulse coming from the Master Emerald and sending the Egg Fleet flying away.

"Kn...Knuckles?" Rouge asked, never seeing the girl like this before as she landed on top of her charge. The echidna jumped down without paying the bat any mind, walking down the steps.

"...Sonic?" The guardian whispered as she reached him, trying to find where the bullet had hit him. The hero didn't look like he was breathing and for a moment Knuckles feared he had been killed protecting her charge, however a bloody cough and gasped breath from the hedgehog showed he was indeed still alive. Knuckles quickly picked him up and brought him up to the top of the shrine, she just had to find the bullet and then she could heal him. However she looked and began to panic when she didn't find it, the breath of her blue rival becoming shallow. "Please...let this work..." The guardian murmured, placing her bare hands on the chest of the hero. She said nothing but after a moment a spot on Sonic's chest began to glow green which she hadn't noticed, the bullet slowly being pushed out of the wound by the healing flesh and organs.

"Sonic?" Rouge was the one to ask now, unsure if he was ok. However the hero opened his eyes and smiled at the two, clearly having no idea what just happened. The echidna sniffled and covered her eyes with her still bare hands, trying to keep from crying in happiness with the hedgehog now alright.

"What's wrong Knux?" Sonic asked when he noticed, Knuckles sniffling again.

"Nothing." She assured him softly, smiling a bit. "I'm just glad that...everything's alright." Explained the red puncher. "I'll go get us some food...you two wait here." Without agreement Knuckles left to find the food for her two friends, crying just a little as she looked.

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I was contemplating this for a good half a day, getting Sonic hurt and healed with Knuckles upset about it. But I decided to make it so, because I honestly like hurting people in these stories. Anyway, see you all later!


	9. For a Plan

Alright, here is the next chapter of For an Emerald everybody! Please read and review!

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"Sonic!" Knuckles, Rouge and the mentioned blue hedgehog all turned from their meal to see Tails running towards them from the forest. "I saw the Egg Fleet stop here and...thought I would come...help?" Though the two tailed fox finished his sentence he was staring at Knuckles in clear confusion, walking up the steps of the shrine.

"We're fine." She said simply, popping a grape into her mouth and biting it in half before swallowing it. When mechanic continued to stare at the guardian she began to become annoyed. "What?" The red puncher demanded, now glaring at the yellow flier as he reached the top.

"...Knuckles?" Tails asked. Knuckles blinked before remembering that the fox hadn't seen her as a female yet. "Sonic said that you were a girl now but..." The guardian sighed as the mechanic trailed off.

"You didn't believe him, right?" She asked, the young boy nodding. "I don't blame you...it's pretty hard to believe." The red puncher admitted.

"What happened?" The yellow flier asked curiously, the hero looking at her hoping for a better explanation than when he'd asked.

"It uh...has to do with a new guardian and a pure heart...that's all I'm saying right now." The echidna repeated, the hedgehog looking a little disappointed. The fox only looked more confused.

"What do you mean?" He asked with a child's curiosity. Knuckles blushed at the question.

"You're 8; I'm not getting into this conversation with you." She huffed, popping another few grapes into her mouth. Tails looked at Rouge in hopes for a better explanation, however Rouge shook her head to show that she had no intention of having the conversation with him either.

"So...you guys fought of the entire Egg Fleet all on your own?" The blue eyed boy asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I guess...I don't remember too much." The green eyed teen said, smiling a little sheepishly at his young friend.

"Actually, Knuckles got-" The blue-green eyed woman was cut off by the violet eyed girl's hand covering her mouth suddenly.

"Ignore Bat Girl." The red puncher said quickly, not wanting the two boys to know of her anger and power. They looked at the girl oddly, but shrugged in the end.

"A pure heart...so, are you looking for someone with a pure heart?" The fox questioned the echidna.

"Yeah, that's right." She admitted. "But I uh...don't know who it is. I just know that they're around my age...and a boy." The girl lied, still unwilling to tell them everything.

"So, will you tell us what's going on if we find this guy?" The hedgehog questioned. The red puncher nodded. "Then we'll start looking for you tomorrow. You and Rouge just stay here, protect the Master Emerald, ok?" The runner said, the guardian nodding. Green met violet and for a brief moment Knuckles couldn't breathe or see, however it was gone when Sonic blinked.

"You two should get back home, you've been here helping me long enough Sonic." The echidna said suddenly, the hedgehog nodding and leaving with the fox.

"...I'm not sure if lying counts as being pure hearted." The bat pointed out after several moments of silence between the two girls. The guardian sighed and grabbed a peach, biting into it.

"I'm already the guardian; I don't need to be completely pure hearted." She pointed out to the thief. "Besides, this gives me time to come up with an explanation to them." The red puncher added.

"I don't see why you don't tell them the truth." The white flier responded with a sigh of her own.

"I can't...not yet." Knuckles said softly.

"Why not?" Rouge asked just as softly.

"Because even with my feelings for him...Sonic won't want anything to do with me when I tell him the truth, and that I'll turn into a guy again." The echidna murmured sadly. The bat's eyes widened at the admittance of feelings, wanting to be upset about it yet being unable to because to her it was all the Master Emerald's fault. How can an object cause so much trouble anyway?

"I'm sure...I'm sure we can think of something. Some way so that he doesn't reject you once you explain it all to him and that he'll even help you with all this too." The thief finally assured, smiling at her friend and trying her best to make sure her smile wasn't sad.

"You really think so?" The guardian asked hopefully, the white flier suddenly feeling a little...sick.

"Yeah, I'm absolutely certain. I may not be pure hearted, but I AM smart Knuckles; I'll come up with something for you." Rouge stated.

"Thank you Rouge!" Knuckle said thankfully, clasping the bat's hands between her own. "You're a great friend Rouge, I'm glad that I have you around to help me." She admitted, smiling sheepishly as she wasn't used to letting her feelings be spoken. The blue-green eyed woman's smile only got secretly sadder.

"It's really no problem Knuckles, anything for a...a friend." The woman guaranteed while the violet eyed girl smiled in a truly happy way. "I'm going to get going, see what I can think of." The thief said, leaving the island.

"Why did I ever want that thing?" Rouge murmured angrily as she flew back to the mainland. "All it does is cause trouble! It's because of that thing that Knuckles is..." Rouge sighed and tried her best not to think about it.

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Sadly both of the latest updates for this and Eclipse the Hedgehog Revised are under 1000 words, which is really uncommon for me lately...I hope I'm not getting writer's block. Oh well, see you all soon.


	10. For a Memory

School is in just a couple more days, so I'm pretty busy and won't be updating alot. However when I do update I'll try to update both this and **Eclipse the Hedgehog Revised**. Also...can someone explain to me why I write better at 3 O'clock in the morning?! Nonetheless, hope that you all like this new chapter, read and review!

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"A plan to get Sonic to help Knuckles return to a guy..." Rouge sat in her apartment trying to think of such a plan, knowing she couldn't do anything rash without Knuckles becoming angry with her. "Wait a moment...Sonic is a hero, and he's seen how much her strength has to rely on Master Emerald, so then...as a hero he'll do anything to help the innocent, right? In that case, there may be hope here after all, with just a bit of manipulation..." The bat murmured, a manipulative smirk appearing on her face.

"So...you have a plan?" The echidna asked as the thief reached the alter.

"Yeah, but you'll have to admit to Sonic that he's the pure hearted one you're looking for first." The white flier stated.

"So...what's the plan?" The red puncher questioned.

"Simple. Sonic is a hero, and he knows that you're weak when you aren't around the Master Emerald. All we have to do is appeal to his hero side to help you...I somehow doubt that Sonic has any real idea what 'coitus' is or what it means so I'm sure his heroic nature will make him agree to help you." Rouge explained in total. Knuckles wasn't really sure if she should glare at the older girl or congratulate her on her plan.

"...Isn't that still tricking him?" The guardian asked, the thief smiling.

"More like not telling him the full truth." The white flier corrected simply, the red puncher looking at her in a way that showed she was unsure of this plan. "You want to go back to normal, don't you?" The bat pointed out, the echidna looking away from her friend and nodding. "And you aren't really lying him, you're telling him exactly what you need him to do...you're just not telling him WHY." The older girl added.

"Stooop! I get it, okay?! I'm not lying to him and that's good enough for me!" The younger girl finally cried out, not wanting to continue the conversation. Rouge smiled at the girl's agreement to her plan, hoping that Sonic would soon return to the island so that they could implement it.

"Good. Now...let's get you cleaned up." The thief smiled at the guardian and the two headed to the river where the latter bathed.

"Knuckles?" The bat asked as the echidna groaned, the younger girl's hand on the side of her head.

"I have a headache..." She stated, her vision suddenly going misty.

_**~Knuckles' Flashback~**_

"_**Daddy!" I called happily as I ran towards what appeared to me now as only a dark red blur. A pale muzzle smiled softly at me, kneeling to catch my small running form. I jumped into the blur's arms, nuzzling it happily. I heard a laugh and turned to see a pink blur smiling much more openly at us.**_

"_**Knuckles certainly has missed you. ... hasn't left the Master Emerald since you left, until you arrived on the island again anyway. I've never seen an echidna run so fast." The pink blur whom was my mother laughed more as I turned to look at my father again, his violet eyes showing apology for leaving me with my mother no matter how short the time.**_

"_**It ok!" I assured him with a smile, my father hugging me tightly.**_

_**~End of Knuckles' Flashback~**_

"Knuckles!" The voice of Rouge jerked Knuckles back into the present, violet eyes looking at blue-green in confusion. "You were standing there without moving and I thought you stopped breathing for a second..." The bat clarified. The echidna smiled at the white flier as if to assure her everything was fine.

"I'm sorry...I suddenly remembered something, from before my parents died..." The red puncher explained, beginning to walk towards the river again.

"I've never seen that happen before." The thief stated as she walked beside her younger friend.

"That's because it's never happened before." The guardian admitted. "The farthest back I've ever been able to remember was what my parents looked like after they'd been killed when I was four and building them wooden caskets..." The younger girl hesitated to reveal this, but in the end decided that the older girl was trustworthy enough to know. Rouge's eyes widened and she stopped, staring at her friend.

"Knuckles I...I knew that your parents were dead but I never realised that you..." The bat couldn't figure out what to say to the echidna, who simply smiled sadly at her.

"It's fine Rouge, I've never told anyone before. The Chaotix don't even know, and they were the first people I ever met." The guardian tried to convince the thief that not knowing or realising about the guy-turned-girl's parents was perfectly fine, that it was hard to know something that you hadn't been told or seen.

"It must have been horrible for you, seeing them like that..." The blue-green eyes woman murmured, feeling a sudden urge to comfort her friend as they began once more towards the river.

"Not really...I blocked all of my memories of before that the moment I saw them, so it wasn't as horrible as if I'd remembered it all. Still...I can't even remember what killed them and for the longest time I was terrified that whatever it was, it was still on the island. But it's been fourteen years, so if it is it doesn't seem to have any intention of doing me any harm." The white flier watched as the red puncher recalled her past, hidden from everyone until then. Beyond her urge to comfort her friend the earlier also felt proud, she was the only one who the latter had told this to.

"...Thank you Knuckles." Rouge said eventually, causing the younger girl to look at her.

"For what?" Knuckles asked, a little confused.

"For everything...for telling me something you've never told anyone else...and for letting me watch the Master Emerald for you while you go do things... it means a lot to me that you trust me enough to do all this." The bat explained, the echidna looking at her for a moment before smiling softly.

"It's not a problem Bat Girl." The guardian responded, using the old nickname as a sign of trust before continuing towards the river to wash up.

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Knuckles really does trust Rouge quite a bit, huh? Well, hopefully things will work out for our favourite guardian. See you all later.


	11. For a Boy

Geez, did this ever take longer than I thought to write. Oh well, we finally get to see if Rouge's plan works. Eead and review.

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It had been a week since Knuckles had last seen Sonic and Tails; a week of long lost memories, bats...perhaps just one...and confusion. During that week the echidna had become more used to her female form; she could even bathe herself on her own and was learning to put on the eye shadow Rouge had been putting on her every day.

"There." The thief said once she had finished applying the sapphire blue to the guardian's eyelids, smiling at the guy-turned-girl.

"Thank you for all the help Rouge." The red puncher said as she opened her eyes. The white flier's smile was, as always since this situation had begun, a little sad.

"It's no problem Knuckles." She assured the younger girl.

"Let's get back to the shrine; I have lots of fruit for us there." Knuckles stated, the older girl nodding in agreement.

"Knuckles!" The guardian and thief turned to find the owner of the voice, seeing Tails and Sonic. "I made a device to find the person the Master Emerald chose." The fox explained to them with a large smile.

_Crap!_ The echidna thought immediately. "I'm not ready for this yet!" She hissed at the bat.

"Too bad, looks like you're out of time." The white flier whispered back, smirking slightly.

"...Thanks Tails." Knuckles finally decided to say, not wanting to upset the young fox or make him think that she wasn't grateful for his hard work. "So uh...how does it work?" The echidna asked curiously. "A simplified explanation please." She added when the mechanic opened his mouth.

"Well...we connect it to the Master Emerald and it shows us a picture of who it chose as the pure hearted one." Tails had to think for several moments to think of a simple explanation for the red puncher.

"And you're sure it won't have any side effects on the Master Emerald?" The guardian questioned.

"Completely." The yellow flier assured her, the young girl sighing. She didn't really have any reason to deny the boy from using his invention if he was certain it wouldn't have any side effects on her charge, she knew he was telling the truth because the blue eyed boy was horrible at lying.

"...Alright." Knuckles relented, stepping aside so that Tails could come up and connect his invention to her charge.

"There's no need to worry Knuckles. This machine has a picture of every teenaged male on the planet in it; there's no way it won't have the picture of the one we're looking for. We'll find him, and then you can explain everything to us." The young fox smiled as he began to walk up the steps of the shrine.

_That's the whole problem Tails. _The echidna sighed inwardly, running a hand through her dreadlocks to calm herself from the panic she was feeling from the inevitable. Tails reached the giant emerald and connected what looked like suction cups attached to wires to it, looking down at the machine. The machine flickered from picture to picture until finally stopping and the mechanic simply stared at the picture, blinking and staring at it a little longer.

"What is it Tails?" Sonic asked his best friend, dashing to the top of the stairs.

"It looks like the picture is of...you, Blue Boy." Rouge stated from her spot beside the yellow flier, acting like she didn't already know this. The hedgehog took a step forward and looked over the fox's shoulder, seeing that the bat was right.

"So...you need me for something I guess." The hero told the guardian, who bit her lip and slumped against her favourite pillar.

"Why?" She grumbled. "Why him?" She voiced her thoughts once more, despite knowing fully well why the runner had been chosen as the one with the most pure heart.

"Is something wrong Knuckles?" The blue eyed boy asked in curiosity, noticing how upset the violet eyed girl seemed to be.

"It's..." Knuckles really wasn't sure how to explain everything to Tails and Sonic, and a large part of her still didn't want to...she wasn't even sure if Rouge's plan would work.

"...Knuckles needs Sonic to do something that normally only people who love each other would do." Rouge stated suddenly, causing everyone to look at her with wide eyes and said echidna blushing.

"Love each other?" The hedgehog asked, looking thoughtful.

"Sonic...you've seen how weak Knuckles is when she isn't taking power from the Master Emerald." The thief said, the hero nodding. "The Master Emerald is something that NEEDS to be guarded, but as she is now Knuckles is hardly in the position to guard it...I've done everything I can to help, but she needs to return to her old form to truly be out of danger. Sonic...you're the only one who can change her back. Not just because you're a hero, but because you have a pure heart compared to any other candidates." The white flier stated truthfully, causing the runner to look at the fidgeting and clearly nervous red puncher.

"You...you don't have to do anything for me if you don't want to..." Knuckles stated suddenly, not looking at her blue rival. "I don't want to force you to do anything...even if I don't say it often; you're my friend Sonic, so I don't wish for you to do anything you don't want to do..." The echidna was nervous about the thought of what she needed Sonic to do, and the thought of forcing him to do it was sickening to her.

"...You said I'm the only one who can help you, right Knux?" The nickname caused some of the guardian's nerves to calm as she nodded. "Then I'll help you." The hero stated, causing the red puncher to look up at him. "Not because I'm a hero...but because we're friends." The runner gave the girl his signature thumbs up and smirk, causing Knuckles to smile softly.

"Thank you Sonic." She said, looking up at Rouge. "Do you...have anywhere else you need to go?" The echidna asked, the bat smiling yet it was so very sad.

"You go find somewhere quiet with Blue Boy here, I'll stay here and watch the Master Emerald." The older girl assured the younger, who smiled at her.

"Thank you Rouge. And...Tails, it would be best if you stayed here and helped her." The guardian told the mechanic, who nodded as the red puncher and the runner walked into the forest.

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They may not have told Sonic exactly what Knuckles needed him to do or why exactly, but they told him pretty much everything else and he agreed. Good for Knuckles, with luck in four months she'll be back to a guy...see you all soon.


	12. For a Fear

I've already been back at school for two days and I already hate it. -.- wish I didn't have to go...oh well, I wanna actually succeed at life after all. Here's the next chapter, so everybody read and review!

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Waking up Knuckles shook her head and sat up; parts of her hurting that she hadn't even known existed. She placed her bare hand over her, the light near unbearably bright.

"What...what happened?" The guardian wondered softly, uncovering her eyes and slowly letting them adjust. The teenaged girl found herself in the casket room under the shrine, which only confused her more. Last thing she could remember was eating fruit with Rouge beside the Master Emerald...then Tails and Sonic showed up...and after that...the red puncher's eyes widened in various emotions from a warm and fuzzy feeling to horror, suddenly noticing the soft breathing from beside her. The violet eyed girl took a deep breath and, refusing to look where the breathing was coming from, looked around. She was between her parents' caskets and her clothes were...scattered around her. Despite not wanting to look, the echidna eventually found herself looking down at who was beside her. As she had predicted, it was the blue hedgehog with his shoes and gloves seemingly missing. Without thought she picked up her clothes as quietly as she could and walked out of the room and cave leading to it, breaking out into a run once she was out of the cave.

"Knuckles?" Rouge asked when she heard a twig snap from the forest nearby, looking in that direction. Tails was still asleep, the guardian and hero had been gone all afternoon and night and it was only early morning now.

"...Rouge?" The voice was quiet from the trees, but the bat was able to hear it and recognise that it was indeed the echidna. The thief looked down at the young mechanic and then at the Master Emerald, deciding that since she'd just be going into the trees nearby and it was the guardian she was going to that the two would be fine.

"What's wrong?" The white flier asked when she saw the red puncher, seeing the girl looking upset and confused and her clothing looking a bit like they'd been put on in a rush.

"I...I did it but I..." The purple-eyed girl placed her head in her hands but did not cry. She had so many thoughts, both good and bad about what she had done that she couldn't sort them out. The sudden deep breath from the younger girl caused the older to push her ears against her skull and cover them with her hands, the red girl screaming at the top of her lungs as she had when she was upset before.

"Feeling better?" Rouge asked her friend-rival.

"Yeah...who would have thought that just letting out a scream could calm you down so much...?" Knuckles thought aloud.

"You'd be surprised." The bat smiled at the echidna before hearing the sound of a certain fox twirling his tails. Rather abruptly the guardian jumped into a nearby tree and became silent as the mechanic came closer to the two girls, the thief confused but quickly realising that the red puncher didn't want the yellow flier to know she was there.

"What was that scream?!" The blue eyed boy asked in panic once he reached the blue-green eyed woman.

"I was checking if Sonic and Knuckles were coming back, but my throat hurts a bit and I couldn't make it go to a high-enough pitch." Rouge lied, Tails sighing in relied.

"I thought Knuckles was in trouble or something." He stated, no longer worried now that he knew no one was in danger.

"They may be taking a while but I'm certain they're fine." The bat told him before the two turned to return to the shrine. However the stop of a blue blur caused them to stop, the hedgehog in front of them with his shows and gloves on again like nothing had happened.

"You guys seen Knux?" He asked in concern. The mechanic began to look a little worried.

"You mean she wasn't with you?" He questioned.

"Nope. I woke up all alone." The hero stated, his foot tapping slightly though the thief was certain it was from worry more than impatience.

"Knuckles might want to be alone for a while or something Sonic; you know how solitary she is." The white flier pointed out, the yellow flier and runner nodding. "I'll stay at the Master Emerald and tell her you were worried about her and to contact you when she gets back...you two should go home and rest." She added and with a bit more convincing the two indeed left the island. "...They're gone." The blue-green eyed woman said once she was certain they were no longer on the island, the purple eyed girl falling from the tree and landing fine.

"Thank you." Knuckles said to her friend as the two began to walk towards the shrine.

"Any reason for hiding from the Blue Boy and Tails?" Rouge asked curiously, the echidna sighing.

"I just...kinda hid without thinking; I didn't want to see them yet..." She admitted, the bat looking at her oddly before sighing herself.

"I suppose it's not that much of a surprise. After what happened it may be hard, for you at least, to go back to being 'just friends'...especially right away." The thief stated, the guardian nodding in agreement as they reached the shrine and began to climb up the stairs. "So...where did you take him?" The question was sudden as the red puncher sat and leaned against her favourite pillar, but she could tell that her friend truly was curious about it.

"...I took him under the shrine." She stated, her friend looking at her in confusion. "There's a room of stone caskets under the shrine, with all my ancestors in it...even my parents, though I made theirs when I was four so they're made of wood instead of stone. I don't entirely know why...I don't think anyone does, but in that room you can talk to the soul of anyone who has a body in a casket there...except my parents, I can't talk to them so, I guess that the wooden caskets weren't good enough for that or something..." The purple eyed girl explained.

"The...soul?" It took a few moments for the blue-green eyed woman to wrap her head around that. "So...do you think that one of the spirits spoke to Sonic when he woke up?" She asked abruptly. Knuckles nodded.

"That was one of the reasons I didn't want to see him yet..." She admitted to the older girl. Rouge nodded and said nothing more, just sat with her friend-rival for a while.

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Knuckles never even thought Rouge's plan was going to work, so she doesn't really know what to do now. Hope things work out, see you all soon.


	13. For a Promise

Here's the next chapter of For an Emerald everybody! For anyone wondering, I won't be adding Silver or Blaze into this story as I don't see a point to it. ANYWAY, Read and review please!

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"How am I supposed to help her if no one seemed to know what's supposed to happen to her..." Sonic wondered aloud as he ran, headed towards Angel Island to see a certain guardian.

_**~Sonic's Flashback~**_

"_**What the...where am I?" Sonic wondered as he awoke, standing to look around. He was in a stone room filled with caskets of the same stone...except the ones he was between were made of wood instead. Trying to figure out where exactly the room of caskets was, he realised that he wasn't wearing his shoes or gloves, so he carefully walked around until he found them and put them on. **_

"_**Young hero..." The hero's head snapped up to look around upon hearing someone seemingly speaking to him, seeing no one. "Open your heart young hero..." The voice was distinctively female and certainly not Knuckles, but the runner felt he could trust this voice. So he closed his eyes and 'opened his heart' as he had been told. "Good." The voice said. "...Now open your eyes." She told him, the hedgehog doing so. His eyes widened when he saw two echidna in front of him yet not...somewhat transparent like they weren't really there.**_

"_**Wh-who are...?!" Sonic wasn't scared of them just very, VERY confused...it wasn't like he didn't know that the red echidna he called his friend was the last echidna alive.**_

"_**Hello young hero." The woman, a hot pink echidna with dark blue eyes and a simple purple dress of a similar shade as her fur, her gloves like white with purple ring-looking bits at the wrist and her shoes looked like purple ballet slippers with ribbons and all.**_

"_**Uh...hello." The hedgehog responded, waving a bit at her and the male echidna beside her who looked like a dark red version of the red puncher he knew when said puncher was still male. The pink echidna laughed softly.**_

"_**You needn't be uneasy or confused your hero...we have heard much of you from the others in this room." The woman smiled at the runner and he suddenly felt safe and calm, any other feeling just leaving his body and mind. "My name is Waist the Echidna and this is my husband Ankle the Echidna." Waist explained to the green eyed boy.**_

"_**Yo." Sonic said simply, waving at Ankle only for the dark echidna to merely nod.**_

"_**I am afraid Ankle cannot speak, young hero." The blue eyed woman apologised softly, smiling sadly. "However, that is a story for another time. Right now, young hero...we need to speak to you about the young guardian Knuckles." Waist stated, Ankle nodding.**_

"_**Knuckles? What about her?" The hero asked them.**_

"_**You see, Knuckles is our...our daughter, young hero." The pink echidna said, the hedgehog's eyes widening.**_

"_**But...but Knuckles' parents are..."**_

"_**Dead?" Waist cut in, smiling softly as Sonic paled. "Yes, that is correct young hero. We are the spirits of the people in the very casket you are currently between. It is through the power of the Master Emerald several feet above us that we are able to do this." She explained to him, not wanting him to be afraid of them.**_

"_**But if that's true than...why does Knuckles always seem so lonely?" The hero asked.**_

"_**A guardian is unable to see their parents...Knuckles misses us dearly but even if we stand here as we are now she will not see or hear us."**_

"_**That's...really sad..." The hedgehog admitted.**_

"_**Young hero, we wish to ask you to do something very important for us." The pink echidna stated, the runner nodding to show he was listening and would likely do as told. "You see, young hero...no, Sonic the Hedgehog. You see, Sonic the Hedgehog, after a new guardian is born their parents always die within five years of the young one's life. Please...we want you to stop Knuckles from dying, we want you to save our...our daughter. I'm afraid we can't tell you how she is supposed to die, even we do not know that." The runner's eyes widened, the red puncher he knew was in danger. But didn't that mean...? "That is correct; Knuckles will be having a child in four months."**_

"_**Then I'll stay with her nonstop and make sure nothing happens...I won't let Knuckles die, I promise."**_

_**~End of Sonic's Flashback~**_

But he hadn't stayed with her, he had left the island while she was gone after their night which in itself was a blur to the hedgehog.

"I don't want you to die Knuckles, no one does..." He murmured as he continued towards the coast. "You're our friend; so I'll protect you...if you want me to or not."

"Rouge?" Sonic asked as he reached the shrine, a little annoyed with the bat being there and not the echidna.

"Hello Blue Boy." Rouge responded simply, sitting near the Master Emerald.

"Where is Knuckles?" The hero questioned.

"You just missed her, she went to get food for us." The answer of the thief was too quick to be the truth, the runner knew.

"Come on Knuckles!" He called out, waiting for a moment. To his partial shock the red puncher walked out from behind the nearby trees, looking a little unsettled with him there.

"What do you want Sonic?" She asked him, not looking him in the eyes.

"Listen, you might not believe me but...I made a promise to two people very important to you that I would protect you, so I'll be staying on this island for a long time." Sonic stated, Knuckles eyes narrowing despite her not looking at him.

"What about saving people from Eggman?" She pointed out. The hero looked at Rouge.

"Shadow can take care of that, right?" He asked.

"If it's really that important to you that you stay here than...yes, I can convince him to protect people in your place for a while." The thief said, no matter what she didn't want the guardian to be hurt and if Sonic had to be the one to save her then so be it.

"Thanks." The green eyed boy smiled widely, flashing the blue-green eyed woman a smile and a thumbs up. "That settles it, I'll be staying here from now on." He stated the the violet eyed girl, however he stopped smiling when he realised that she was in the same position she always went in when she was upset about something.

"Don't I get a say in this?!" She snapped angrily, growling at Sonic. "This is MY island, and if I don't want you here than you have no right to stay!" Knuckles snarled at the hero as if he were her enemy, she looked very conflicted despite how much anger she was showing. "Now get the hell off my island before I force you off Sonic." The sudden change to a calm voice scared the hedgehog but he refused to vacate the island and leave her unprotected, promise or not.

"Knuckles, listen. This is-"

"OFF!" The guardian yelled and a huge pulse of energy came from the Master Emerald, sending the hero off the island and into the deadly water below.

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Um...Knuckles REALLY doesn't know how to deal with Sonic anymore, but was sending him into the water when he can't swim ENTIRELY necessary?...Apparently so. I hope our favourite blue hedgehog is going to be ok, but you'll all have to wait until the next chapter to find out. See ya later!


	14. For a Rival

Geez, did I ever make this chapter short...oh well, can't be helped I guess. Hope you all like it, read and review!

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"You know, you're lucky Shadow just so happened to be going to stare aimlessly at the Master Emerald when you were sent off the island Blue Boy. If he hadn't you certainly would be dead at the bottom of the ocean by now." The voice of Rouge was all that Sonic heard as he awoke, coughing a little.

"What did you do Faker?" Shadow asked his rival, wanting to know how he had annoyed Knuckles enough that she blasted him off her island.

"I uh...said I was going to stay on the island for a while to protect her." The blue hedgehog admitted.

"So you hurt her pride." The black one summed up, the bat shaking her head.

"It's not quite that simple Shadow. Knuckles doesn't really know how to handle being around Sonic right now, things have gotten rather...complicated for her right now." The thief explained, the hero and anti-hero alike looking at her oddly. Suddenly the skater sniffed the air, walking closer to the speedster and sniffed again. Looking confused, the red eyed male closed his eyes and focused before rather suddenly smirking.

"Didn't think you had it in you Faker." He stated, the green eyed male only looking at in all the more confusion while the blue-green eyed woman groaned.

"What are you talking about Shadow?" Sonic asked him.

"Shadow, that's enough." Rouge said before Shadow could say a thing, the black and red hedgehog looking at his GUN partner. He crossed his arms and turned towards Angel Island again, the blue one not realising that they were on the shore below said island until then, clearly not caring enough to continue.

"It might be best if you stayed away from Knuckles for a bit Blue boy, she's pretty...emotional right now." The bat tried to convince the runner, who shook his head as she had earlier.

"I promised to protect her, she's in danger." The hero disagreed, the anti-hero suddenly staring at him.

"A promise..." He murmured before nodding slightly to himself. "I will help you out Faker, so leave staying on the island to me."

"W-what? Really Shadow?!" The green eyed boy and the blue-green eyed woman were both shocked at the red eyed male's statement to help.

"Yes." Shadow said simply, looking at Rouge and nodding before Chaos Controlling up to the island.

"Echidna." Knuckles turned at the dark voice to see Shadow at the bottom of the shrine.

"What is it, want to stare at the Master Emerald again?" She called back down, the hedgehog's eyes narrowing.

"It would seem that you and the Faker had a fight of sorts...however he made a promise to protect you, and I will not allow any rival of mine to break a promise." The echidna blinked before her own eyes narrowed, she didn't want Sonic on her island.

"He's not allowed here." She stated.

"Because it is his child you carry?" The red eyed male questioned, the violet eyed girl's eyes widening. "It was in his Chaos Energy...yours as well." He explained.

"This is...all very complicated Shadow. It isn't like I forced him into doing anything, nor did he to me but..." The guardian trailed off, unsure if the anti-hero would even understand the severe emotional turmoil considering he was rather distant even to his two friends.

"He has promised to protect you, so he must stay on this island. He, and obviously someone else, seems to think you're in danger. It is easier for everyone if you just let him do as he wants."

"But...but I..." Knuckles sighed, knowing there was no real point to arguing with Shadow...the hedgehog would always win. "Fine, I'll let him stay. But that doesn't mean I'm happy about it." She finally relented. The anti-hero nodded.

"I never said you had to be." He stated before disappearing in that customary flash of green Chaos light.

"It has been taken care of." Shadow stated as he appeared on the shore of the mainland once more.

"You really convinced Knux to let me stay on the island?" Sonic asked, trying not to show how hopeful he was.

"And protect her, for as long as needed." The black hedgehog confirmed, Sonic smiling widely.

"Thanks Shadow." The blue hedgehog disappeared in a flash of his own Chaos Control to the island.

"...Why did you agree to help him? It's not like you Shadow." Rouge pointed out after several minutes, confused by her partner's actions.

"No rival of mine will break a promise." The skater stated simply, leaving.

"So that's it...a promise..." The bat sighed before looking at the island with a sad smile. "I promised to help you, even if I didn't say it outright...if being with Sonic is what will help you, even if it's not part of my original promise, than I'll make sure things work out. Because after everything you've been through Knuckles...you deserve to be happy, not have some jealous thief trying to take away your happiness."

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Yay, Sonic didn't die! Rouge has realised how selfish she was being and Shadow was surprisingly helpful to our favourite blue hero...of course, I always thought that promises were something that Shadow would care very much about considering his promise to Maria and all. See you all for the next chapter!


	15. For a Trap

Sorry this took so long, been busy with school and my boyfriend. Just got back from the Zelda Music Concert in Toronto! It was awsome!...Er, ANYWAY, time for the saddeningly short chapter. Read and review.

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"Just because I agreed to let you stay here doesn't mean that we're all buddy-buddy Sonic." Knuckles warned from the top of the shrine with a glare, 'insisting' that Sonic wasn't allowed up there while he stayed on the island.

"...What did I do to make you mad at me Knux?" The hedgehog asked suddenly, the echidna sighing.

"I'm not mad at you Sonic, I'm confused...very confused. So I want to try and figure things out on my own, though instead I've been taking my frustration out on you." The red puncher explained with another sigh, as she hadn't meant to do what she had. "I just want to be alone to think, but you insist on staying here to protect me from a danger you don't even know...you're a hero all right, even if a part of me is annoyed by it."

"Why would you need to be alone to think? I mean, I can be quiet if you want." The green eyed boy suggested. The violet eyed girl shook her head.

"I'm not used to people beyond me being here for long periods of time to begin with Sonic, I've been alone for a very long time. So when I'm confused or upset or...pretty much anything that isn't happy I want to be alone because that's what I'm used to." The guardian stated as she sat against her favourite pillar. "My parents died when I was a kid; and I was alone until you and Eggman came along." She added, her eyes closed as she thought back to all the blurry memories she'd had lately.

"...Weren't you ever lonely?" The hero questioned after a moment, the girl looking at him as he sat on the grass below the shrine with his fingers tapping on the ground; he seemed determined not to move but his nature rejected staying still for long periods of time.

"At first I was...I was lonely, angry and afraid...but as time passed I began to forget what it was like to have anyone but myself on this island and the loneliness disappeared; replaced with a strong connection with the Master Emerald and sense of independence." Knuckles said after a few moments of thought, she didn't want to keep talking to the boy but at the same time she did...she wanted to be alone but she didn't as well...she was more confused than before.

"Well, you never have to be lonely again. Cause I'll be here for you." Sonic smiled widely and gave her a thumbs up, causing the girl to shake her head and chuckle softly with a smile.

"It's just one day Sonic...besides; you're the one who wants those things." Knuckles pointed out a week or two later as she sat against her favourite pillar late at night, looking down at the boy she was trying to convince leave for a day.

"I'll just get Tails to bring the stuff." Sonic insisted, only for the echidna to huff.

"He's busy right now; so is everyone else. Eggman hasn't tried anything since he tried to take the Master Emerald and we stopped him, everyone is on edge and getting ready for a big attack. Even Rouge isn't coming around right now." She explained to him.

"Which is why I can't leave you alone!" The hedgehog reminded her.

"Sonic...I can take care of myself for one day; I lived perfectly fine before I met you." The guardian sighed, beginning to get annoyed. While she had gotten used to his presence, if the male wanted 'chili dogs' he'd have to go get the stuff for them himself...considering the young mechanic had come by earlier that week and took his Chaos Emerald it would take him about a day to get everything and return to the island.

"As a guy!" The moment the hero spoke he knew he'd said something wrong, the angry purple aura around his red rival only proved it. "...I'll...just go." Without another word the green eyed boy left, not wanting to anger the violet eyed girl any more than he already had.

"What are you doing here?!" Rouge demanded when she saw Sonic running through the city with grocery bags in his arms.

"Getting stuff for chili dogs...Knuckles has never had one before so I thought I'd make us some." The hero explained to the thief.

"How could you leave the island Sonic?! There's a huge storm covering it and no one can get close, not even Shadow...something's wrong; and you're not there to protect Knuckles!" The moment the words left the bat's mouth the groceries were dropped and the hedgehog was off in a blur of blue. "...Please let him get there in time..." She prayed quietly.

"Ho-ho-ho! How perfect! I've been waiting for Sonic to leave and this storm comes to block Angel Island from the outside!" The voice of Eggman caused Knuckles to growl.

"You're causing this storm!" She accused him, causing him to laugh again.

"You got me Knuckles! My newest invention not only creates a heavy storm to cut you off; but lets out pulses similar to the Master Emerald's power to stop you from calling on its power or those hedgehogs to get here." The inventor was smiling madly at the guardian...she was trouble...

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Eggman's really planned this one out, how is our favourite guardian going to get out of this one? You'll have to wait and see!


	16. For a Rescue

I don't really have too much to say just yet...so read and review and read through **Eclipse the Hedgehog Revised **and the sequal **Child of Chaos** if you like this!

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"Just what makes you think I need Sonic or Shadow around anyway?!" Knuckles demanded angrily, her fists clenched and her metal straps already on place over her knuckles.

"I've discreetly been watching you Knuckles; and I've seen how weak you are in this form without your precious Master Emerald or those annoying hedgehogs." Eggman smiled sinisterly at the guardian, she knew the villain was right and she was honestly afraid but she could never admit that to him or herself.

"I don't need anyone to protect the Master Emerald!" The red puncher declared, getting into a fighting position in front of her charge. She stood and waited for the Shadow Androids below the evil mechanic's Egg Carrier to attack her, she knew that if she went to attack them first that it would leave the Master Emerald open for theft...the echidna tried to draw on the power of the giant emerald, but as the human had said; she was unable to, leaving her only with her diminished strength...she had to come up with a plan, and fast...

Sonic looked almost desperately at the Chaos Emerald in his hand, willing it to let him Chaos Control to the island barely within his sight from the coast of the mainland.

"There isn't any point in trying to Chaos Control to Angel Island." The blue hedgehog turned sharply to see Shadow standing but a few feet behind him and glaring up at the island. "...It seems that the Master Emerald is letting out pulses to stop the Chaos Emeralds from getting near the island." The black and red hedgehog added.

"Why would Knuckles make it do that if she's in danger?!" The hero demanded to the anti-hero.

"She wouldn't." The red eyed male responded, the eyes of green widening. "Knuckles may be proud, but if she is in danger as we suspect she would not try to stop at least you from helping her." The older pointed out.

"So then...the enemy is controlling the Master Emerald?" It wasn't really a question; it seemed the only conclusion with what the skater had said as the speedster looked at the floating island feeling helpless. "What about Super-"

"It wouldn't work Faker." Shadow cut him off harshly. "The moment you approached the island in Super form the Chaos Emeralds would lose their power and you'd return to normal, plummeting into the sea."

"We have to help her somehow." The two hedgehogs turned to see a clearly worried Rouge.

"There may be a way to help before things get worse." The black male said, causing the others to now look at him. "...If you can fly us both through the rain onto the island."

Knuckles panted as she punched another android, though the girl wasn't sure how long she'd been at this it felt almost like an eternity...the harsh storm blocked out all light and help; she was cold and weakening with each punch. Despite this the guardian hadn't moved from her place before the Master Emerald; she was determined to protect it no matter what...not because it was her job but because Rouge had been right long ago in pointing out that it was often needed to help save the world when in peril.

"I won't let you...get this emerald..." The echidna puffed as she punched yet another android, she was weakening and because of that it was taking more than one hit to destroy the meddlesome things...not to mention her wet fur and clothing was slowing her down and the rain hampering her vision and hearing.

"It's only a matter of time before you run out of energy." Eggman stated simply, something that the violet eyed girl didn't want to admit even if she knew it was true.

_At this rate I'm not going to last much longer...I'll admit it; in this form, without the help of the Master Emerald...I'm pretty much useless._ The red puncher thought, blocking a kick and returning it was a punch.

"Goodbye Knucklehead." Knuckles coughed as she was kicked in the chest, hitting her charge with another cough and her body flopping in the appearance of being unconscious. However the guardian slowly stood again, she wouldn't die lying down...however she could feel her remaining energy leaving her as she stood.

"It looks like...the line of guardians...end here..." The violet eyed girl's eyes closed as she fell forward, diving into unconsciousness. Just before she was fully gone she felt arms wrap around her and stop her from hitting the floor, holding her protectively.

"Knuckles!" Sonic yelled as he caught said girl just before she hit the cold stone floor of the temple, her eyes closed and her breathing scarce. "Don't worry Knuckles...the guardians won't end here." He assured the unconscious girl, placing her down carefully before standing and turning towards his enemy.

"Sonic?! Shadow?!" Eggman demanded, clearly surprised that they'd managed to make it to the island.

"I thought it would be you attacking this island Doctor." Shadow stated with a low, angry growl.

"How did you two get here?! My machine should have prevented Chaos Control from reaching here!" The old human yelled angrily.

"It did. So we found another way onto the island." The black and red hedgehog stated as Rouge landed beside Knuckles, ready to protect her and her charge if needed while Sonic jumped from the shrine and landed beside his rival.

"Rouge?! Flew you here?!"

"Knuckles is our friend Eggman...and for trying to hurt her, you'll have to pay." Dark energy began to surround the blue hedgehog, one that had only been seen once. Even the villain wasn't going to stick around for the usually easygoing hero to lose his temper and start destroying things, he quickly took off with what remained of his android army to get his prize another day.

"Faker." The voice of the skater cut through the speedster's anger-fogged mind, returning him to his senses just before he lost himself. "You should be taking care of her." The red eyed male gestured towards the one the green eyed male had promised to protect, causing said younger male to nod and dash back up the stairs. Sonic may have broken his promise, but he'd be certain that it never happened again...knowing that Shadow left the now sunny island to the hero, thief and guardian.

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Sonic was about to go Dark Super Sonic, it's a good thing Shadow stopped him before he did. Sonic is getting more protective of our favourite guardian...maybe his promise is leading to some feelings of his own? We'll all have to wait and find out (I honestly have no idea where the plot of this story is going ^^;) so see you all soon!


	17. For a Sickness

It took me a little bit but here's the next chapter of **For an Emerald**. Read and review, and hope you all enjoy!

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"Knuckles..." A female voice tugged the conscious of the sleeping girl. "Knuckles." They repeated, said girl entering a half asleep-half awake state.

"...Mother?" Knuckles asked after several moments, still believing she had died protecting the Master Emerald. The voice gave a sad chuckle.

"Not quite." The echidna opened her eyes slowly to see Rouge smiling down at her. "I'm glad you're awake, I was beginning to worry." The bat admitted.

"W...what? What happened?" The guardian asked in confusion, realising that she was beside her charge with a blanket over her and what felt like some clothes bunched up near her head to make a pillow...she had a cool wet cloth on her forehead too.

"You were fighting Eggman for the Master Emerald for a while before we figured out a way to get here I guess...you passed out practically the moment we reached the clearing. Sonic dashed up and caught you before you hit the floor, then he put you down and scared off Eggman...he was really angry, but Shadow calmed him down. You've been out with a fever for nearly a week...but Sonic and I have been watching the Master Emerald for you." The thief explained to her friend-rival, who in turn looked around.

"Where are they?" The red puncher asked.

"Shadow left after he calmed down Blue Boy and hasn't returned...Sonic hasn't left your side this whole time but went to get some food just now, insisting you were going to wake up soon." The white flier stated, her ears perking as she heard the footsteps of the hedgehog.

"I brought you some grapes Knuckles." The hero stated as he reached the top of the shrine, kneeling down beside the other. After a moment the runner placed down the basket of grapes and other fruits, helping his sick friend sit up. "You must be hungry, sleeping for so long. Eat up." He handed the younger girl the basket to let her chow down...which is exactly what she proceeded to do.

"Thank you...both of you." Knuckles said after she had finished eating.

"I just watched over the Master Emerald, Sonic took care of your fever all on his own." Rouge stated, causing the echidna to look at her in mild shock before turning to her blue friend-rival and doing the same.

"It wasn't that hard." Sonic smiled sheepishly before letting her have a chug of the water from the canteen and laying the younger girl back down and wetting her warm cloth in the bucket of cold water nearby, placing it on her forehead again. "I had Tails come to check you out...he's not too good with biological stuff but I didn't think it was a good idea to take you to a hospital; he said you probably just over worked yourself in that fight and made yourself sick." The hedgehog explained, the guardian nodding sleepily now that she was full and no longer thirsty. "You just rest up." The hero told the girl, who nodded again before closing her eyed and falling back into the slumber that had clutched her for near a week.

"...Aren't you worried about the child, with her being sick and not eating for so long?" The thief asked, knowing that the other knew of their friend's pregnancy...he merely smiled.

"I'm not worried. A guardian's unborn child takes all the energy it needs from the Master Emerald, and it keeps them from getting sick too." The runner stated, absently moving the red puncher's dreadlocks from her face as she slept with a small and odd smile.

"Where did you hear that?" The white flier asked curiously, if it was true than she could relax but she had to see if he'd gotten it from a reliable source first.

"An echidna told me once." The runner stated, Rouge assuming he meant Knuckles and not asking anymore.

"It's the middle of the night...you can sleep some more if you want." The moment Knuckles awoke she found Sonic looking at her in the dark, lying beside her on the floor of the shrine...he seemed to be trembling but pretending he didn't mind. If Tails was right than the girl couldn't make the boy sick; with that thought she moved the blanket to cover the both of them, much to the surprise of the other.

"You've helped me a lot lately Sonic...the least I can do is make sure you aren't too cold up here." The echidna explained, curling up a little on her side so as to give him some of the 'pillow'. The hedgehog moved the cool cloth, recently dunked in the cold bucket of water again, back to his friend's forehead and hugged her from behind as a thanks. He soon fell asleep, not noticing the blush on the girl's muzzle.

"Feeling any better?" Rouge asked in the morning as her red friend woke up, staring down at the two. Knuckles had eventually rolled over to curl into the peach chest of her child's father at some part during the night, causing him to tighten his grip around her protectively while they slept.

"Y-yeah." The echidna blushed at how close she was to the mate her charge had chosen, not wanting to wake him up but unable to pull from his arms otherwise...she wasn't used to seeing him so still and calm while doing so, and it made her heart skip a beat with the thought that she was only seeing this because of how much he wanted to protect her.

"Hey Blue Boy, wake up." The bat poked the hedgehog with her boot, effectively waking him from his peaceful slumber; much to the disappointment of the girl in his arms.

"Are you alright to get up?" Sonic asked when he pulled his arms back and saw the guardian trying to sit up.

"I can't lay down forever, I have a job to do." The younger girl pointed out, slowly sitting up with his help. After a few moments she forced herself to stand despite the hero's protests. "Once I touch the Master Emerald I'll be fine." She assured him, walking with the help of the thief to said giant emerald. The red puncher placed her gloved hand on the gem, causing a bright flash before it disappeared and she looked as good as new. "See? Totally fine." She smiled at them.

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The Master Emerald has quite a bit of power, doesn't it? And Sonic is really seeming to care more and more about our favourite guardian, hopefully things will work out for them...speaking of which, Knuckles wasn't too happy when Rouge woke up the blue hero, I think she liked to watch him sleep. Rouge seems to be a lot more...alright, with them being together. See you all next chapter!


	18. For a Breath

This is really just a filler chapter brought about watching a Knuckles AMV on youtube to the song **I Stand Alone **from **Q****uest for Camalot**...the video is literally called **Knuckles the Echidna-I Stand Alone Tribute**...if you want you can listen to it while reading this and you'll understand where I got most of this. Anyway, sorry the chapter is so short but it's really just filler anyway. I hope you all enjoy, read and review!

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It was a quiet, peaceful day on the floating island that housed a certain all-powerful emerald; and its guardian couldn't have been happier. She wasn't sick anymore and, leaning against her favourite pillar, she could hear the animals of the nearby forest along with the waterfall and wind in the trees. Having grown up on the secluded island, the young guardian was used to these sounds and they made her feel comfortable. The only real problem was...

"How can you sit there all day?" A certain blue hedgehog running around the shrine and asking her how she was able to just relax as she was.

"I've grown up on this island and with everything that's happened lately I'd forgotten the calm feeling I get from listening to this island breathe." Knuckles responded without opening her eyes, a hand on her somewhat bloated stomach. The one she was talking to screeched to a halt and looked at her oddly.

"Breathe?" Sonic asked in curiosity. He knew his red friend-rival wasn't crazy; so either he was suddenly half deft, which he highly doubted, or she knew something he didn't.

"Yes. Each sound is a breath: each chirping bird, gnawing mammal, buzzing insect, drop of water and leaf in the wind. Each breath calms me a little more...I can tell you right now where every animal on this island is, show you where the flow of the waterfall is weakest and catch a leaf from the other side of the island before it hits the ground. Not because of my speed...but because I can hear it all." The violet eyed girl explained to her protector, who fell quiet. He wanted to hear what she did, see what she saw...and to do so he had to try staying still and listening.

"...I don't hear anything..." The green eyed boy admitted after a few moments, his friend chuckling softly at him.

"I thought that was what you were trying to do." She chuckled for a few more moments before taking a deep, silent breath. "Relax Sonic. Close your eyes and get comfortable, then relax and take silent breaths. You'll hear it soon enough." The guardian assured him. Doing as she said, the hero sat and got as comfortable as he could without running. All he heard was silence for several moments and then...the wind, rustling through the grass and nearby trees. Soon came the chirping of the birds that he hadn't noticed before, then the buzzing of the bugs and gnawing of the mammals. Finally...he could hear the waterfall, far away, as though it was beside him.

"I...I hear it..." The runner was amazed, it really did seem like the island itself was breathing with each small sound.

"See? It's not that hard...your just need to open your heart and mind, then you will hear the island's breath. I know each breath of this island as though it's my own." The red puncher smiled, though it was unseen by the one she had taught. "...Do you feel restless?" She asked suddenly, the other not opening his eyes.

"No..." He realised aloud. "I'm not restless at all...I'm completely...calm." The blue boy admitted.

"This is why I can sit all day without moving...the breathing keeps me calm. It's only during a storm that the breathing becomes irregular and hard to hear...or, of course, when the Master Emerald is taken and Angel Island begins to fall into the sea." Despite the horror Knuckles had insinuated with that statement, neither were overly upset with the breath of the island calming them.

"I never thought I could just...sit and relax like this for long." Sonic admitted, his friend chuckling once more.

"Do you see now, why I prefer to be alone when I need to think? It's hard for me to hear the breathing when I'm distracted by others, especially someone with a Chaos Energy like you or Shadow." The guardian explained. "I've seen your world Sonic...and I find that I prefer mine much more." She added, the hedgehog nodding.

"I can see why." He admitted, opening his eyes and looking up at her. "I'm starting to get hungry...I'll go find some fruit." The hero stated, the echidna now opening her eyes.

"Don't take too much this time; this island is in a very delicate balance." She warned him, causing him to nod. The runner could now understand why she wanted to protect this island as well as its power source, he'd never taken the time to realise how wonderful the guardian's island truly was.

"I won't." He assured her before walking off.

"Where's Blue Boy?" Rouge asked as she landed on the shrine, causing Knuckles to open her eyes.

"He is...enjoying something beyond running, fighting and his chili dogs."

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The main point of this chapter is Sonic being fully able to see the beauty of the island that he never really noticed any other time he was there and being able to relax more than he does. That's pretty much it ^^;...oh, and to show that Knuckles is much more relaxed with him being around; though that's probably because he's been on the island for about two months already so she's used to him. Hope you all liked, see you all soon!


	19. For a Death

Yeah...Imma so gonna die after this. Read and review...

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"Do you know how much longer until the new guardian is born?" Rouge asked as she rubbed the stomach of her friend-rival, feeling the child within kick against her palm.

"Within the next few days." Knuckles responded with a smile, looking forward to meeting the new little guardian.

"Have you figured out a name? Or gender?" The bat questioned curiously.

"We aren't sure about the gender since I don't really want to leave the island to get it checked. I told Sonic that we didn't have to give the child a name like mine and most of the guardians but he said that it was fine with him so...we decided on the name Femur; it sounds unisexual enough that no matter the gender the name will be alright." The echidna explained.

"Wow...who would have thought that Sonic would be the type to follow tradition?" The thief was honestly a little amazed; it certainly didn't seem like something the hero would do.

"I know...I certainly didn't expect it." The guardian admitted with her happy little smile. "But I suppose that I never really saw many of his good traits because he was my rival and I was trying so hard to keep seeing him like that instead of as my friend. Really, the more I made him out to be my rival the more he countered with trying to be my friend; he didn't want me to be alone...he didn't really understand that I wasn't lonely, that I had been used to being alone for a very long time."

"Blue Boy seems to be more and more of a hero with each day...I'm surprised he's alright with staying here and letting Shadow take care of saving everyone in his place." The white flier added, the younger girl nodding.

"I never thought he would do something like that...he always seemed like such a thrill-seeker to me so I never thought he'd be able to protect just one person or place, it seems I underestimated him though. I'm certain once he realises I'm not really in any more excessive danger than I was before he'll start helping others again." The red puncher stated, causing the older girl to fall silent.

"Knuckles...are you worried that once he realised that...that he'll leave you?" It was a harsh question, but it was the blue-green eyed woman's job as a sort of older sister figure to point out these things to the younger. The other girl looked down so her dreadlocks were covering her face.

"I've actually been...thinking about it a lot, a lot more than I want to. I'll admit I'm worried about it, so I'm trying my best not to get too attached to him as what he is to me now...but just like before, the more I try to push him away the closer he insists on getting to me. I thought I was used to being alone, but if he leaves me alone with Femur...I'm not really sure if I'll be able to take that..." The violet eyed girl admitted softly, causing the other to pull her into a hug.

"Even if he leaves I won't leave you alone Knuckles, I promise." Rouge said kindly, petting the girl's dreadlocks soothingly. As she had hoped the other began to relax again and listening to the island. "Speaking of which...where is Sonic anyway?" The older girl suddenly realised.

"He's at the lake, trying to get some fish...Tails said I can't keep eating just fruit carrying a baby a while back so Sonic has been trying to get me meat and eggs and such. He's really careful how much he takes; now that he understands the delicate balance of this island." Knuckles responded calmly, her head now on the other girl's lap as said other girl continued to run her gloved hands through her dreadlocks.

"...Knuckles?" The bat asked after several moments, it wasn't really like the younger girl to ignore her.

"My mom used to do this when I was a little kid...so it's really comforting and relaxing to me, being able to hear the island makes it even more so..." The echidna explained abruptly, causing the bat to freeze for a moment; she still wasn't used to her friend-rival telling her things about her past, with how closed off she had once been...to be honest, the thief was a little afraid that once the younger girl returned to being a guy she'd become closed off again. "...Bat Girl?" The nickname brought the older girl's attention back to the younger, and began to run her hand through the dreadlocks again.

"Sorry about that, I was thinking about some things." The white flier apologised.

"It's alright; there's been a lot to think about lately." The red puncher assured the other.

"...Knuckles?" The blue-green eyed woman asked suddenly, causing the other to open her eyes and look up at her.

"Yeah?" The violet eyed girl asked.

"It's just...I've been wondering lately if...if you can stay a girl if you want..." Rouge murmured, unsure if she should even be asking such a question in fear of angering the girl...honestly though, the younger girl had become much less violent as of late and seemed to prefer not to fight at all. Said girl sat up and looked the older in the eyes, pulling away and leaning against her favourite pillar after a few moments.

"Probably." Knuckles answered, looking off into the forest. "I'm not really sure if I want to though...I'm weaker like this, and it's harder to protect the Master Emerald...I'd also be kind of forcing Sonic to stay here to help me protect it because I'm too weak on my own, and that wouldn't be fair to him. I'll admit though...I never was this calm before I became a girl, never this...happy, I guess. So I'm not angry with the Master Emerald for what it did anymore...and even if Sonic does leave, I'll still have Femur to keep me company...and you too, Rouge."

"...Sonic would be a fool to leave you, no matter the reason. I doubt he will though...he's a hero after all, so I doubt he'd leave his child to be raised by their mother and never know him as whom he is to them." The thief stated after several moments, causing the other to smile again.

"You're probably right...thanks Bat Girl." The guardian said.

"I got the food!" Came the sudden voice of Sonic from the bottom of the shrine, for a moment the white flier had been concerned that he'd heard the conversation before realising that the younger girl didn't look worried.

"I don't see why you insist on stating that you've returned whenever you do, you know I can hear you when you're on the other side of the island." The red puncher pointed out.

"I like to make an entrance." The hero smiled widely as he walked up the stairs, placing a basket with food inside it. Cooked fish and boiled eggs, though no one was certain how he'd cooked them, and peaches. "Eat up." The runner said.

"Femur lives off of the energy of the Master Emerald." The violet eyed girl reminded the other, picking up the fish and biting into it nonetheless.

"You should still eat well too." The green eyed boy said simply. With a gasp of horror Knuckles dropped the fish and placed her hands on her stomach with wide, fearful eyes. "Knuckles?!" Sonic asked in worry.

"Femur...Femur isn't breathing anymore..." The guardian choked out. The hero and thief both looked at each other, knowing that they didn't have much time.

"Calls Tails, get him here! We don't have time for him to get a doctor!" The white flier exclaimed, taking charge. The runner nodded, grabbing the cellphone of the panicking mother and quickly doing as told.

"...I can't believe this..." The guardian heard Sonic say as she began to regain consciousness from Tails having to put her out and cutting her open to get to Femur.

"It's not fair! She's been through so much already, it's not fair!" Rouge yelled angrily, but the younger girl could hear her sobbing softly.

"There's nothing we could do...it was pretty much too late by the time she realised what was going on..." That statement from Tails caused the red puncher to snap awake.

"What happened to Femur?!" Knuckles demanded, looking almost hysteric.

"I'm...I'm sorry Knuckles..." The mechanic whispered, softly placing a non-breathing baby in her arms. She sniffled, pulled the small body to her chest and began to sob.

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Please don't kill me! I had this planned out from the beginning, I'm sorry! Things will get better, I promise! Just please don't stop reading! So uh...see you all later, I guess...


	20. For a Miracle

Sorry this took so long, I was waiting for SOMEONE (I really do mean anyone) to review the last chapter...here's this one now, hope you all enjoy. Also...never piss of a new mother. Ever. Read and review!

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"K...Knuckles?" It was Rouge, realised the crying mother absently. A sudden realisation hit the guardian, who gently placed the baby on the floor of the shrine. "...Knuckles?" Rouge asked again as the girl stared at her with an odd look in her eyes.

"You!" Knuckles yelled suddenly, jumping at her friend-rival surrounded in the familiar purple energy. Her fist hit the thief, sending her flying as had happened when the one who had punched was male. "This is all your fault!" The red puncher's voice cracked as she yelled, clearly trying to restrain herself from crying again.

"Knuckles, calm down!" Sonic stood between the violet eyed girl and the white flier, knowing that the younger girl was indeed upset and for a good reason; but that wasn't a good enough excuse to harm the woman.

"I know you're upset Knuckles, you have every right to be. But Rouge didn't do anything, and you'll only end up being more upset if you hurt her." Tails tried to reason with the girl. The blue-green eyed woman gave a coughing laugh.

"Just like before...when you attacked Blue Boy 'cause you got turned into a girl..." She pointed out weakly, trying to stand as the eyes of the younger girl widened.

_**~Knuckles' Flashback~**_

_**"I understand you're upset, but that's no need to be so angry with me. I haven't done nothing wrong Knuckles." Sonic huffed, clearly annoyed that I hadn't accepted his apology. He barely managed to dodge a fist to the head with a quick-reaction jump when I suddenly jumped off the alter at him, cracking the stairs some with my force. I didn't notice though as I stood back up, looking the hedgehog dead in the eye. The hero took a step back as he looked into my eyes; I think I...I reminded the hedgehog of a very enraged Shadow or something, and it was seemed unsettling to him.**_

_**"Nothing wrong? Nothing wrong?!" I demanded with dangerous eyes. "It's because of you that I'm stuck like this!" I snarled, readying to jump at me red rival again.**_

_**"Knuckles! Stop it!" I froze in my squat, having forgotten entirely about the bat I'd been eating with. "None of this is Sonic's fault Knuckles, you know that. Hurting him now isn't going to make you feel any better later, you're just upset." Rouge pointed out, her voice a little desperate to get through to me.**_

_**~End of Knuckles' Flashback~**_

"Just like...before..." Knuckles repeated aloud, realising just it was. It was true that Rouge had been the one to plan how to get a certain blue hero to 'help' her, but the bat hadn't known it was going to end up like this...

"Femur?!" The sound of Tail's voice brought the echidna's attention to her child, who was glowing.

"Femur!" She yelled, running towards the child. Slowly the baby's eyes opened, looking up her mother with glowing green eyed that caused said running mother to stop dead. Femur was an echidna with tiny hedgehog ears atop her head, her thin fur coat the same red as her mothers with a now pale green crescent on her chest.

"H-how...?" The young fox questioned, staring at the child along with her father and mother. Her tiny arms were peach like her father's, as was her muzzle and inner ears. What were most surprising however were her dreadlocks; they formed five bangs on her forehead and were thick like quills in the back, slightly bent like them as well...what was most stunning about the dreadlocks was the familiar blue they were instead of red like the rest of her fur.

"Femur's...alive?" Sonic asked, not unhappy in the least that his daughter was alive but very confused...the baby had very clearly died before his best friend could even get it out. The young hybrid made a small sound of curiosity, tilted her head and reached a tiny hand out towards the guardian. Looking in a trance, the echidna walked to her daughter and picked her up before her eyes widened drastically.

"There's...there's no heartbeat..." Now the red puncher was trembling, her daughter was dead yet it reached towards her dreadlocks in the curious manner that most babies did.

"Knuckles...if the Master Emerald can turn you into a girl...couldn't it animate a corpse?" The mechanic asked suddenly, causing everyone to turn to him.

"It...it's never happened before but...I suppose there is the possibility..." The violet eyed girl bit her lip as she looked at the girl in her arms, which suddenly looked up at her curiously.

"I think we have to see that as much more than a possibility, it's happened." The yellow flier pointed out, reaching for the child. "I'm not doctor, but...from what I can tell she's completely fine beyond no heartbeat..." He said after checking her up as best he could, handing the green eyed baby back to her mother.

"So...she's alive but not?" Rouge asked as she made it to the top of the stairs, staring at the baby.

"I'm guessing that her body is taking energy from the Master Emerald or something similar...she'll probably grow too. But if the Master Emerald is shattered, stolen or she leaves this island; I'm betting that she'll return to an unmoving corpse." The blue eyed boy explained.

"A guardian born...that is tied to the Master Emerald like no other before her..." Knuckles murmured, unsure if she was more sad that her daughter was so completely reliant on her eventual charge or more happy that she was at least 'alive'.

"She's really smart...like, a lot more than she should be. I'm not sure if the energy from the Master Emerald is stimulating her brain more, or giving her knowledge...but she's definitely smarter than any baby I've heard of." Tails added after several moments of silence.

"Can I...hold her?" The blue hedgehog questioned suddenly, looking rather nervous. The echidna blinked, she'd been trying to sort out her own emotions with all this that she had forgotten that the baby's father would probably want to hold her.

"Careful." The guardian said, showing him how to hold Femur before giving him the hybrid. As he looked down at his daughter she suddenly smiled at him and gave a soft laugh.

_Happiness. _The red puncher decided, happiness was definitely stronger.

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Femur is alive!...Sorta...Good enough. Not as long as the **Child of Chaos** chapter I'm going to be posting in a bit but still fairly good. Hope you all enjoyed, see you all next time!


	21. For an Emerald

It states it in the first sentance, but there is a two year timeskip between this chapter and the last. We're coming up on the end of the story soon too, so I hope you all enjoy and read and review!

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"Da-ddy!" It had been two years since the Master Emerald had brought Femur back, and as Tails had thought the girl's undead body had aged...she was a little on the small side, but that was alright. As Rouge had suggested long ago, Knuckles had decided to stay female after her daughter was born. The little hybrid, dressed in an oversized cobalt shirt as a dress with loose white shorts and mixed boots, jumped from the shrine towards the familiar blue hero.

"Yo!" Sonic said simply as he caught his daughter, hugging her as he always did when he returned to the island. While his need for adventure had caused him to return to his place as world hero, he always returned once or twice a week to see the girl and her mother. "Where's Mom?" He asked the little girl, who suddenly began to frown.

"Mu-mmy under shrine...she act odd." Femur stated, her ears drooping a bit as a sign of sadness. Sonic blinked before messing up his daughter's dreadlock-quills, causing her to laugh a bit.

"Then I'll go check on her, bring her up. You stay here, alright?" The hedgehog asked the girl, who nodded. The one day guardian would always do what he told her; she wanted to prove that she was 'responsible' to him. "When I get back I'll give you your present too." The other thing the runner always did when he returned was bring a present for the girl, usually a toy of some sort.

"Okay." The green eyed girl smiled cutely, walking dutifully back up to the Master Emerald and sitting in front of it with her arms crossed like she'd seen her mother do every day. She didn't need to look for danger; with her connection to the giant emerald she'd notice the moment someone set foot on the island, thanks to the unseen bubble of Chaos Energy around it...for that matter, she'd been waiting for her father to reach the shrine since he had landed.

"I'll be back soon." With that the green eyed male dashed off for the entrance to the underground cavern, to the place he had first made his promise.

"...You don't have any intention of telling them, young guardian?" Pachacamac asked the current guardian as she sat between the caskets of her parents.

"What would be the point?" Knuckles asked, thinking of her daughter and Sonic. "It's not like it'll change anything...it's the natural way of things for a guardian, there's nothing they can do about it."

"But the young hero will try to save you, as he has before, and share the same fate. Is it truly 'fair' not to tell him of such?" The old spirit pointed out, causing the woman to smile sadly.

"I'll do everything I can to stop that from happening...he's not even an adult yet, to let that happen would be unfair to him and the world that relies on him so heavily." The echidna stated, knowing it would be hard but she had to try...she wouldn't let Sonic share her fate just so Femur would protect their charge without complaint.

"Knuckles...do not do anything foolish, anything that you will regret." The spirit warned.

"I have no intention to do that either." The violet eyed woman assured him, the ex-chief nodding slightly and disappearing as the two heard quick footsteps.

"Talking to someone?" Sonic asked once he entered the cavern.

"Chief Pachacamac." Knuckles responded, the hedgehog nodding.

"...Femur's worried about you." He stated, the echidna suddenly taking a sharp breath. Did her daughter already know? ...No, she couldn't, she would have said something by now.

"I've been here talking to my ancestors quite often recently, trying to get Femur used to protecting the Master Emerald...she is the next guardian after all." The woman pointed out, dusting herself off and standing. The boy wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug...she'd never thought of him as the 'hugs/cuddles' type, but like many things since she'd been turned into a female; he had proven her wrong.

"She's only two Knux...don't you think you're forcing her to grow up a little too fast?" The runner asked, the red puncher huffing. He was one to talk; he'd 'forced' Tails to grow up pretty fast too.

"Her mental age is older than her physical age." The guardian reminded him instead, she didn't want to remind him of the life-and-death situations he'd put the little mechanic into over the years.

"Yeah, but you'll be around her teach her how to be a proper guardian for a long time." The hero said as he pulled away, giving her that smirk of his...she forced a smile in return; how was it that he called her naive and gullible again?

"...I'm not a proper guardian." The violet eyed woman said after several moments, it was all she could say. A sudden crashing noise caused them both to become alert; Femur and the Master Emerald were in danger. Picking up the woman like a bride, as he had many times before, the green eyed boy dashed from the cavern.

"Why not die already, crazy old man?!" Femur called up to the old human angrily; standing atop her mother's charge, if not for some rather clear differences you could probably mistake her for the woman.

"Ho-ho-ho!" Eggman laughed, clearly not intimidated by the hybrid.

"No laugh!" The undead girl growled at him, glaring at him dangerously...mind you, she was still only two, so it didn't have much of an effect. Finally annoyed she pulled more energy from the Master Emerald into her body, bouncing from it like it was a spring. Two spikes of pure green Chaos Energy appears on each fist, and only then did the man see that she was indeed a threat. She punched, but just barely missed the Egg Carrier and landed soundlessly on the ground, spinning around on her toes. "No belong!" She called at him.

"Femur!" The girl turned at the voice, seeing her parents and smiling.

"Mu-mmy! Da-ddy!" She called to them, the mad scientist also turning to look. Imagine his surprise to see the female Knuckles and Sonic headed towards him; Femur's existence wasn't well known by the world encase someone came after her and the Master Emerald to get to Sonic, also none of their friends had been sure how the majority of the world would take her birth considering Knuckles having once been male.

"You pesky hedgehog! I've found your weakness!" The doctor laughed loudly, pushing a button on his Egg Carrier. The claw that had been trying for the Master Emerald suddenly turned, grabbing the hybrid girl as she screamed and raising her to him. He pulled her from the claw and grabbed her around the neck. "Another step hedgehog and I snap her neck." He smiled evilly, the blue hedgehog skidding to a stop with wide eyes along with the girl's mother...he really had found the weakness of the earlier.

"Femur has nothing to do with this Eggman!" Knuckles yelled at the man, the blue carefully putting her down.

"On the contrary, Knucklehead, she has EVERYTHING to do with this. A child must always pay for their parents' decisions." The human responded coldly. A heavy gust of wind blew behind the two teens, causing them to take a step forward...and the mechanic's evil smile to only grow wider.

"Femur!" The guardian screamed as the sickening snap of the little girl's neck echoed through the island, her body becoming lifeless.

* * *

I said this before and I'll say it again; please don't kill me! It's Eggman, blame Eggman!


	22. For an End

"Ho-ho-ho! What will you do now you pesky hedgehog?" Eggman asked, still holding Femur's unmoving body as though to show her off.

"Eggman..." Sonic began to growl, low and dangerous, at the old mechanic. Keeping his rage under control while staring at the limp form of his daughter was not an easy task but, not only had Shadow warned him of the destruction of his 'Dark Super Form' but Knuckles' increasingly dangerous Chaos Energy surrounded her in her own anger, he had to be the one to keep 'calm'.

"What the...?" The parents focussed on the old human, who in turn was focussed on the girl in his hand. After a moment the runner and puncher realised why; the neck of the undead-turned-dead girl was glowing green, as were her lifeless purple eyes.

"F...Femur?" Knuckles whispered from beside the hedgehog. The girl's head, which had been at an odd and clearly fatal position from her neck being broken moments ago, rolled against her shoulder until her glowing and lifeless eyes were looking straight up. After a few moments of silence, beyond the soft cracking of bones healing and replacing themselves, the hybrid's head returned to facing her attempted murderer.

"...Was weird." Femur said after blinking, the glow of her eyes returning to their usual amount and the life returning to them. With a high-pitched noise no one knew the villain could make, he dropped the undead-turned-dead-turned-undead-again girl. Like before she landed soundlessly on the ground, stretching her neck. "Was weird." She repeated simply as they all stared at her.

"You're alright!" The guardian finally exclaimed, the first to get her voice back beyond their enemy's odd noise upon hearing the girl speak. The woman hugged her daughter tightly, as though the glowing green eyed girl would return to a dead body if her mother let her go. Opportunistic, though definitely shaken from the girl's revival, Eggman ordered his claw to grab the object he'd come for.

"Let go! Let go!" The hybrid exclaimed, suddenly much more terrified than she had been even as she was 'killed'. "Masa Emmy! Masa Emmy!" She cried, reaching for her mother's charge. The parents turned, looking at what she was reaching for...causing them both to freeze for a moment. "Masa Emmy!" Femur yelled again, snapping her parents back to reality.

"Damn it!" The echidna growled, they didn't have more than a minute until the giant gem was out of range and the island fell along with the small hybrid returning to her lifeless state. Suddenly she realised something, THIS was what she had been dreading; fate was about to throw the mere two year old Femur the Echidhog into the same position as every guardian before her. "...Sonic, Chaos Control to the mainland with Femur, then put her somewhere safe and go after the Master Emerald for me." The woman said after unyielding moments of thought.

"What about you?" The hero asked as he picked up his daughter. The purple eyed woman smiled at him tightly, though the hedgehog didn't appear to notice.

"I'll be right behind you. You know I don't like to fight anymore, I'll leave in a moment and fine Femur's body...take care of it until you return." It was somewhere between morbid and saddening that speaking of Femur as a dead body when not around the Master Emerald had no emotional or mental effect of her or her parents.

"Alright." The runner said after another unforgiving moment, pulling the purple Chaos Emerald from his quills. "Chaos..." His voice paused as he drew energy from the powerful jewel, focusing it on what he wanted. "...Control!" The teen called loudly, the customary flash of light appearing as he and the hybrid disappeared from the island.

"...I'm sorry." The red puncher apologised in a whisper to no one.

As soon as the hero and his daughter appeared on the shore of the mainland he pressed the Chaos Emerald he'd used to get there into her hand, causing her eyes to glow the same colour as the emerald.

"Mu-...mmy..." Femur gasped weakly, slowly reaching towards the now falling island.

"Don't worry, Knuckles will be here soon." Sonic tried to reassure the undead girl, he had come to believe the guardian unconditionally since the little girl had been born.

"No..." The hybrid disagreed, slowly shaking her head. She pointed back to Angel Island with difficulty that was to be expected with a 'mere' Chaos Emerald keeping her alive. The hedgehog looked where she was pointing, for a moment seeing nothing...after that moment he noticed a red and blue 'dot' under the island, looking almost like it was trying to hold the falling island in the air.

_No!_ The runner thought then he realised what the echidna had done. _Why did you lie to me?!_ His mind demanded. "Knuckles!" He yelled out instead.

"Mu-...mmy..." The undead girl repeated, her eyes beginning to lose the purple glow that was keeping her alive. At that moment the Egg Carrier and Master Emerald flew past nearby, the old mechanic piloting the earlier wondering what caused his rival and his unkillable child not to chase after him...but he knew he didn't have time to turn around and find out, lest he'd keep driving without looking and hit a tree or they'd snap out of it and go after him. "Mu-mmy!" The girl screamed as she momentarily got the green glow in her eyes that signified the equally momentary return of her full strength, the island having hit the water.

"Gah!" The green eyed male cried, falling to his knees with a hand over his heart at the scream of the girl with the glowing eyes.

"Mu-...mm...y..." The Master Emerald out of range and the purple Chaos Emerald now dull without energy, Femur's body became limp and her life-showing glowing eyes stopped their glow.

"Knu...ckles..." Sonic breathed, he'd never felt such strong pain before...it was like something was trying to rip him apart from the inside, however the pain began to dim as Femur's 'life' ran out.

"Faker?" The hedgehog's head snapped to the side, seeing his black and red rival standing there calmly...with the Master Emerald at his side under his arm.

"Shadow?!" The runner questioned as the glow returned to his daughter's eyes.

"Masa Emmy!" The hybrid exclaimed, running to the side of the gem. She placed her forehead against it as though to show it her thought, nodding after several moments. The undead girl jumped on top of her mother's charge, glowing and beginning to float. "...Chaos Control." The light was so blinding that no one could see.

The blue hedgehog blinked several times, finding himself on his back on Angel Island. Looking around he saw his hedgehog rival nearby, his daughter on the Master Emerald in the shrine...and a confused looking echidna looking around.

"Knuckles!" Sonic exclaimed, running to her and pulling her into a tight hug. "What were you thinking?!" He demanded.

"I was trying...to stop you from dying, and leaving Femur with no parents...it looks like I failed though; I ran out of air trying to keep the island above water as long as I could, and since you're here it means that you must be dead too. It's odd...I never thought a spirit could return to Angel Island without their body being is a casket in the cavern under the shrine..." Knuckles explained, looking very sad.

"Mu-mmy!" The woman gasped as her daughter charged into her, knocking them both over. "Mu-mmy okay...Mu-mmy okay!" Femur sobbed happily, clinging to her mother.

"Femur? How can you see me?" The guardian asked, confused...the ex-chief had told her that no guardian should be able to see, hear or even feel the spirit of their parents. The upcoming guardian blinked, confused.

"Me mu-mmy see." She stated, clearly not understanding why she shouldn't be able to see her.

"You're not dead echidna." The woman looked up to the eternal male, now only more confused; by both him being able to see and hear her as well and his words. "Your daughter used Chaos Control with the Master Emerald...put everything back where it belonged and brought me here as well." Shadow explained.

"You can do that?" Knuckles asked, the girl with glowing eyes nodding proudly.

"Shad Masa Emmy." She said with a smile. Despite her parents both usually being able to understand her cut sentences, their minds didn't fill in the words this time...luckily, her father realised what she was trying to say.

"Shadow got the Master Emerald back from Eggman." He explained to the girl's mother.

"Why?" The guardian asked.

"I was headed in the direction of the island...saw the Doctor with the Master Emerald. I thought you might need it." The dark hedgehog stated, he remembered Rouge telling him before she'd disappeared several months ago about the undead girl 'dying' without the gem.

"Masa Emmy me call Shad." Femur stated, Sonic's mind returning to the pain in his chest...had that been some odd, desperate cry for help that the anti-hero had understood but he couldn't? From the somewhat confused look on the older man's face, the hero decided that it was unlikely.

"Either way...thank you Shadow." Knuckles said truthfully. The dark hedgehog had no response, he simply left...leaving the family of three to their lives together, fate having been overturned by the plea of an undead little girl and the power of a creation of man.

* * *

That's the end of this story, but I want to make a sequal of Femur's life when she's 15 or so...it'll take a bit for me to work out the last few kinks. See you all then. **P.S. For anyone who is wondering; "Masa Emmy" is Femur's childish way of saying Master Emerald, like how she calls Shadow "Shad".**


End file.
